Lions' Digest

10/27/2025

After two decades of shaping the minds of young students at State High, English teacher Dana Zuhlke will retire this November. Known for her kindness, patience and deep care for her students, she leaves behind a lasting mark on the school and anyone who had the chance to learn from her.

Read more about Zulhke’s career using the link in bio

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10/13/2025

In a special meeting this afternoon, the Penn State Board of Trustees unanimously approved a transaction that will send the operating assets of WPSU’s public radio and television stations to WHYY, a public media provider in the greater Philadelphia area.

Read more using the link in bio

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10/13/2025

Morgan’s Message is a student-led club for student athletes’ mental health. The club aims to help normalize talking about mental health and make it have equal importance to physical health. The international organization was founded after Duke lacrosse player Morgan Rogers died by su***de. Ultimately, the goal of Morgan’s Message is to eliminate all the negativity about mental health for athletes and give them a place to go and feel included.

“I feel like everyone deserves to have someone in their corner,” club president Reagan Dare said, “and not let what happened to Morgan happen to anyone else.”

Article by Emma Bigger
Photo courtesy of Reagan Dare

10/13/2025

On Sept. 10, political activist Charlie Kirk was killed after being shot in the neck while debating students on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. This attack is one of the latest events of the uprising in political violence in the United States. But what has caused this uptick in violence and extremism?

Read more of ’s opinion using the link in bio.

10/13/2025

WPSU, central Pennsylvania’s public media provider and PBS/NPR affiliate, is set to close its doors by June 30, 2026. This development comes after a Penn State Board of Trustees committee rejected a plan to transfer ownership of the station to the Philadelphia-based public media entity, WHYY. Central Pennsylvania has rallied around its 72-year-old local affiliate in the form of a petition with over 20,000 signatures and hundreds of comments. The Penn State Board of Trustees has scheduled a special meeting for Oct. 13 to discuss the previously rejected sale of WPSU.

Read more using the link in bio.

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09/22/2025

Meet the 2025 Lions’ Digest editors! Visit lionsdigest1.con to check out our latest work and stay tuned for new articles coming this week

07/01/2025

On June 25, State High student journalists Grace Levy, Anne Yingling, Anna Herickhoff, Julia Noel and Sarah Ocampo visited Harrisburg with adviser Samantha Corza to advocate for the Student Journalism Protection Act, a New Voices sponsored bill that would strengthen first amendment protections for student journalists in Pennsylvania. Students were introduced to the senate and met with legislators and legislative aides from across the state, including State College’s own Rep. Paul Takac.

06/08/2025

“Doing something different from everyone else is hard. It’s scary to take a risk and for there to be the possibility of failure. But there is a chance that risk can pay off, and for me, it did.“

Thank you .autumn.photography for everything you’ve done for State High Publications!

Read about Saige’s photography journey using the link in bio.

05/28/2025

On May 15, the State High journalism program hosted their inaugural Media Day. Students highlighted their work from Lions Digest, the Little Lion Yearbook, and WSCH to build connections between student leaders and SCASD administrators. Thank you so much to all of our attendees, we can’t wait for future events!

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05/28/2025

Shout out to our Sports Manager, and future Editor-in-Chief, Noah Radio!

Noah Radio is going where no one at State High has gone before.

Radio recently was chosen to attend the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C., June 22-27 as Pennsylvania’s representative. He is the first State High student to earn a trip to the prestigious scholastic journalism conference.

One junior from each state and Washington, D.C., will take part in the immersive five-day program aimed at inspiring and encouraging students to pursue journalism and media careers. In addition to panel workshops on various media-related topics, conference scholars visit different newsrooms in Washington, D.C., and network with conference alumni journalists.

As a member of the Free Spirit Class of 2025, each student also will receive a $1,000 scholarship to the college of their choice.

The conference was established in 1999 to honor Al Neuharth, founder of the Freedom Forum and USA Today. Conference scholars attend the Freedom Forum’s annual Free Expression Awards ceremony, which the forum says “honors the achievements of those who have championed or celebrated free expression and the First Amendment in ways that have inspired others.”

05/27/2025

Following a school-wide election in early May, five students were elected to serve as Student Government officers for the 2025-2026 school year. These elected students will represent the State High student body and communicate student and school-wide needs to administrators.

Sophomore Yidi Zhang (parliamentarian), junior Olivia Shen (treasurer), sophomore Dasha Nekrutenko (secretary), junior Ryan Brown (vice president), and junior Grace Yang (president) will represent the student body in the coming school year. Here is a closer look at the elected officers and what they hope to accomplish for the upcoming school year.

Read more about each elected student using the link in bio.
Article and photos by Clara Kraft

05/09/2025

On April 11, the State College Borough Police Department arrested 20-year-old Braeden Phillips for allegedly plotting to attack State College Area High School in late April. Phillips, of Milroy, and formerly of State College, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. A State College Area School District official familiar with the matter confirmed to the Lions’ Digest that Phillips attended State High, but did not graduation.

According to the criminal complaint obtained by the Lions’ Digest, Phillips was planning to attack State High on April 21, the day after the 26th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. On April 20, 1999, two Columbine High School students killed 12 students and one teacher. The massacre was the deadliest school shooting until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, and is often the subject of copycat shootings and threats.

State High students, teachers and parents were notified about the planned threat in a message from Superintendent Curtis Johnson sent on April 12. The message stated: “An arrest has been made and at this stage of the investigation, police have nothing to indicate that there is an active threat against the school. Accordingly, we can hold school on Monday as normal.”

Read more using the link in bio.

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