Dunkin Donuts Review

Bnkin

Dunkin Donuts, which is one of largest coffee and donut chain brands in the United States, has the best and biggest variety of menu options. Not only do they provide many different breakfast options but they provide a large variety of drink options. However the star of their menu is their wide variety of coffee options. Here are the top 

Dunkin Donuts Iced Americano comes in last place. This drink allows you to taste Dunkins’ espresso brand without all of the add-ins like sugar, creamer, and flavoring. This drink, although preferred by some people, has a burnt taste and is incredibly bitter. It is also very bland and only gives that coffee taste which is very boring when there are so many flavors to choose from. Considering the lack of appeal to this drink that is why it is ranked last.

The Dunkin Donut drink in fourth place is the Blueberry Iced Coffee. Unlike a lot of coffee shops or chains that provide other flavoring syrups like vanilla, caramel, and mocha. Dunkin has a blueberry flavor which is usually asked for in Dunkin’s standard ice coffee or cold brew. Although blueberry flavored drinks usually have an appealing taste to them, Dunkin’s blueberry coffee is not very great. It does not have the right flavoring to go with the name, and blueberry flavoring should simply not be in coffee. 

Dunkin Donuts Caramel Swirl Iced Coffee comes in third. The drink has a good amount of creamers and other add-ins, so that the sweetness does not overpower and the coffee is still present. However the caramel flavoring gives more of a chocolate flavor. Also most of the time this is ordered it is not mixed well, a lot of the syrup is sitting on the bottom. 

The Caramel Craze Iced Signature Latte from Dunkin comes in second. This drink gives the perfect amount of caramel and cinnamon flavors and a well blended latte base. It also comes with whipped cream with caramel and cinnamon toppings that brings the whole drink together. These toppings are also removable upon request. However this drink does have a very sweet taste to it, and may be overpowering for many coffee drinkers. Although the coffee flavor is still present among sipping.

The best Dunkin Donuts drink is the Ice Vanilla Latte with cold foam. This drink gives options to sweeten it up with the additions of cream and sugar and make it less sweet by leaving it plain with no cold foam. Even with these additions, this drink is a simple go to basic. Everyone, coffee drinkers or not, will find this latte tasty.

My Way To Annotate Books

By: Lottie Bynum

To annotate a book there are some supplies that would be helpful:

  • Page Tabs (in lots of colors)
  • Pen that won’t bleed through book pages
  • Clear sticky notes
  • Pencil

To annotate I start by reading through the whole book and dog-earing pages I like or want to tab. After that I go back and find book tabs that match the cover of the book for aesthetic purposes; from those tabs I designate each color to a theme. For example I have a purple themed book with a range of purple and pink tabs, the lightest is classified as cute, a more lavender is noted to be funny, and each has a description of what they mark. At the beginning of the book I put one tab in each color with what it notes written on it to mark an index if someone wants to see what the tab colors represent. After that I go through and start placing tabs at the top of the side of the pages in descending order to where they are in the book. Page ten starts at the top and on page twenty the next tab goes below it. It takes me about 30 minutes to an hour to finish tabbing a book of 300-400 pages. You can continue by writing notes in the margins or if you don’t like marking in the book you can write the notes on clear sticky notes and stick them in the book. I have also considered drawing in the book if that’s what I feel like. In the beginning of chapters it’s fun to decorate and draw in the extra blank space on the page, it gives the book a sense of life to add pictures, descriptions or notes. Tabbing and annotating a book is up to whoever does it and is open to many different ways of tabbing and annotating. It takes time to find your own style of annotation whether it’s similar to this or not. It’s supposed to be a fun and helpful way to enjoy a book.

How to Paint With Acrylic

By: Lottie Bynum

To paint with acrylic you need materials.

  • Paint (The primary colors and white)
  • Water
  • Brushes
  • Canvas or Paper
  • Paper towel
  • And news paper or a trash bag
  • A pallet or plate to put the paints on.

While assembling the materials you will need to set up a suitable space to paint with the trash bags or newspaper. Lay them out on the floor or on a wall if you want to set your painting against it while you paint. Then get your area ready by setting out your water and pallet/ plate with paints. Make sure the water and paint are close so you can clean and switch colors quickly. Cover the canvas or paper with an “underpainting” by painting the canvas in one color; underpainting helps the colors blend batter and makes sure the painter doesn’t miss any areas while painting. Sketch your design or drawing in on the canvass or paper then start laying in base colors in the areas you want to paint. I usually start with a lighter color and then layer darker colors on top and build layers and depth. You may lose some details this way but it is a method to paint. The other way to start a painting is to start with three base colors: one for the regular, one for light, and one for dark to separate the painting. Painting this way the painter will keep more details in their painting. After getting the base colors in, start to build in darker or lighter colors to shape and add values to the painting. It’s helpful to start to work in sections instead of the whole painting at once, especially with acrylics as they dry quickly and blending becomes more difficult. Working on the sides of the canvas for people who paint on canvas, they can do two different things: either black edges or continue their painting on the edges. Both methods look pretty, however to save time the black edges will help if the painting is going into a frame.

Graduation

By: Lucy Buxton

As the end of senior year is quickly approaching, there are lots of things to plan and prepare for. Such as lots of grad parties, vacations, and the last of “lasts”. 

If I’m being honest, I dont think I’m quite ready for all of this to end. Basketball finished for us about two weeks ago and I’m not even the biggest fan of playing basketball but when I realized it was the end, I was very upset. I was more upset about my brother’s season ending though. I always tell people that I don’t like him until basketball season comes around because I really am so proud of him. I might have even cried for him more than him. It is just something about watching him working his butt off for years in our driveway and all of that hard work coming to an end on a random Monday night. I wasn’t prepared for that and neither was my family I think. 

As track is starting up, I’m trying to keep a mindset of trying constantly because this really is the last sport I will ever do and I think that is a hard mindset to grasp because for lots of my classmates, sports have been a huge part of our lives since we have been eligible to play them. I also love track so I think that will make it even more sad than basketball so I am dreading the end but I hope I can still remain positive and motivated throughout the year. 

Moving on from sports, there are lots of things to look forward to like my spring break I will be spending in Jamaica with some of my best friends. I couldn’t be more excited for that and the day after graduation I will be going to the Bahamas so there are a lot of “ups” about the end approaching but I am trying to soak it all in before it is too late. 

Enough with the posities, one bone I have to pick with is, our graduation not being at Patriot Hall, but instead the practice gym… I won’t comment much on this because I would probably get in trouble for the word choice I would like to use but let’s just say I am not happy and do not want to make the most of it but I guess I will try. 

South Carolina Gamecocks vs Texas Longhorns Basketball game

By: Knox Buxton

On Saturday South Carolina played against Texas in an SEC matchup. South Carolina went into the game 0-13 in conference play and 10-16 overall. I thought South Carolina was going to get killed by Texas because of the way their season has gone so far. To be honest, the only reason I went to the game was to see Texas’s freshman star, Tre Johnson. Tre Johnson is a projected top 10 pick in this year’s NBA draft and the latest mock draft has him going at 6th overall. It is also always fun to watch Collin Murray-Boyles play for South Carolina and he is also a projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft. Murray-Boyles is projected to go at 13th in the latest 2025 NBA mock draft. Carolina got hot to start the game and came out and got a lead on Texas. Texas could not get anything going on offense because South Carolina was playing great defense to start the game. Jahmarii Thomas started off gaurding Tre Johnson and was doing a really good job on him. Texas’s offense runs through Tre Johnson so since they couldn’t get him going, it was looking good for South Carolina. Collin Murray-Boyles got off to a hot start for Carolina as he had a couple and one’s and altered texas’s shots at the rim. Carolina stayed hot and went into halftime up 40-22. Johnson had 9 points at the half and it seemed like no one else could score the ball for the longhorns. To start the second half it was more of the same, Carolina went up by twenty and the game seemed like it was just about over. With just under 10 minutes left in the game Texas started force feeding Tre Johnson and he got hot. To go along with johnson scoring the ball at will, Texas broke out a press which seemed to work on Carolina for a little while. It looked like Texas was about to make a comeback with around five minutes left to play but then South Carolina pulled away and won the game 84-69. I enjoyed watching South Carolina get their first win in conference play and seeing Collin Murray-Boyles go for 22 points and 10 rebounds. It was also fun to watch Tre Johnson score the ball at will and seeing Texas’s whole offense run through him. Johnson finished with 29 points and hit some tough shots. That game looked to me like Carolina’s best all around game in SEC play because they played hard defense and were scoring the ball better than they usually do. Even though this season has been pretty painful to watch for Carolina, I enjoyed watching them surprise Texas.

Super Bowl Review

By: Knox Buxton

This year’s Super Bowl was a rematch from 2023 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs were comin off of back to back Super Bowl wins against Philadelphia and San Francisco. Everyone I had talked to about the Super Bowl this year said they thought the Chiefs were going to get it, especially after going 15-2 in the regular season. I called the Super Bowl back at the beginning of the season and said it would be Philiadelphia and Kansas City and Philadelphia would win. I knew once the Eagles added Saquon Barkley and having one of the best defenses in the league, they had too many weapons. The game started out with both teams being forced to punt. The Eagles got on the board first with a tush push touchdown by Jalen Hurts. A few drives later, Jalen Hurts threw an interception and that is when I thought the Chiefs would start heating up and make it an entertaining game to watch, but I was wrong. Philadelphia forced a three and out and then Jalen Hurts hooked up with AJ Brown for a long passing play and it ended up with the Eagles scoring a field goal to go up ten to nothing. The next drive, Patrick Mahomes threw a pick six to rookie cornerback, Cooper Dejean. Once the Eagles took a seventeen to nothing lead and looked unstoppable, I knew it would be hard for the Chiefs to come back. Right before halftime, Patrick Mahomes threw another interception to Zack Baun on their own side of the field and it led to an AJ Brown receiving touchdown. When the Eagles went up 24-0 at halftime, I knew the game was just about over. The Eagles were dominating every aspect of the game and pressuring Mahomes consistently. The second half was really just more of the same with Philadelphia taking a 34-0 lead before the Chiefs started padding the stats. Kansas City’s last second stat padding was made them able to make the game a little closer before losing 40-22. Jalen Hurts won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player even though I thought there were a lot of Eagle player that I thought deserved it. In my opinion, I would have just given it to the whole defensive line after how they got after Patrick Mahomes and forced him into making bad plays. I sincerely enjoyed watching the Eagles Beat down the Chiefs and showing everyone Kansas City isn’t all that.

Top 4 Restaurants in Sumter, SC

By: Morgan Aycock

  1. Kobe

Kobe is a Japanese restaurant in Sumter that is run by the Beacon Theatre. They cook in front of you and have the best food. Although it isn’t as good as other Japanese restaurants in Columbia and at the beach, it is the best you can get in Sumter. Japanese is my favorite food type, so I probably like it better than any other restaurant. I had my birthday dinner there this year because they offer big parties at the section where they cook in front of you, or if you have a couple of people with you, you can eat at the tables at the front by yourself. Sitting where they cook in front is the best because the food is so fresh and it’s a nice place to go for an interactive dinner. 

  1. Leo’s 

Leo’s is one of my favorite places because they have a lot of different options. Their cheese balls are probably the best appetizer you can get anywhere. They also are pretty fast and it is a good place to go for a quick lunch or dinner. All the staff is nice and the restaurant is also kid-friendly which is nice for families. Although it is mainly a wing place, I always get their chicken fingers. Also, many people go there to watch games because they have a lot of TVs.  

  1. Mon Cafe

I always go to Mon Cafe. Although it is a little expensive, they have the best food and is also a good place to go for a quick lunch or dinner. All of their chicken, shrimp, and steak are good. They also have great sushi and the best white sauce. They also have great reward opportunities such as $10 off for every $100 you spend (which adds up quickly.) You never get used to their food; I could eat it every day. It is mostly the same as Kobe, but they don’t cook in front of you. 

  1. Thai House 

Thai House has the best sushi in Sumter by far. I always get their Mama Roll because it has shrimp and crab in it, and most sushi places in Sumter don’t offer that. They have the nicest staff and are so accommodating to you. They close for about a month in February because they go to Korea which sucks. All of their food is made and served fresh.

Pickleball Review

By: McKenzie Gray Mills

This week I’ll be talking about pickleball. Pickleball is one of my favorite activities to do. While living in a small town there is not usually a lot to do. So having a pickleball court is the perfect opportunity to do something fun and be active. Pickleball is a super fun game that mixes tennis, badminton, and ping-pong. You play it on a smaller court with a paddle and a plastic ball with holes. It’s easy to learn and great for all ages. People love it because it’s social. The best time to go is in the spring. The weather is great and just the best way to end the day. One of my favorite memories was when everyone from young life went to play pickleball. It was a tournament. Whenever you would win you would move up to another court. Whoever ended up on the big court last won. This was such a fun night because we all bonded in a way we never have before. Another great memory involving pickle ball was at camp. After club at night we had about an hour of free time. Everyone surrounded the pickle ball court. It was so fun winning in front of everyone. The rest of the week I was reminded of that night. 

The rules are simple once you get used to it. In a game, you score points only when you’re serving. You earn a point if the opposing team fails to return the ball, hits it out of bounds, or commits a fault. Games are typically played to 11 points, and you must win by at least 2 points.

Pickle ball is always going to be my favorite activity. The courts in Sumter are always going to be my favorite since it holds so many memories. Since I’m going to college next year, I’m going to have to find a new place to play. It’s going to be exciting getting to play with all new people. 

If anyone hasn’t ever played before they need to. It’s for anyone. Pickle ball is easy even for people that aren’t athletic. 

 Ranking My Classes

 This week’s blog is part 1 of me ranking my classes from my favorite class to my least favorite class. Since I have a study hall I only have 6 classes. My classes are 1st period is  AP Biology, 2nd period is engineering, 3rd period is senior seminar (English), 4th period is digital media, 5th period is weight lifting, 6th period I have study hall so that doesn’t count in my ranking, and 7th period I have AP Pre-calc. 

 Before I rank my classes I will just say how I feel about them overall. Overall I don’t feel like I have a hard schedule and I actually really enjoy almost all my classes this year. 

Coming it at #1 is my 4th period class, digital media. For this class we have to make a video and post it every week and every other week we have to write a 350 word blog about anything we choose to write about. Digital media is my favorite class because it is very laid back. You kind of get to work on your own schedule which is really nice. On days where I don’t have anything to do it is a good time to get some of my homework or studying done. 

 Coming in at #2 is my 2nd period engineering class. I really enjoy this class because we get to work at our own pace. My teacher gives us our assignments on google classroom at the beginning of the week and then as long as they are done by the end of the week he has no problem, so the class is very chill, which I really enjoy. I also have some of my friends in the class so it is very nice to be able to talk to them.

 Coming in at #3 is my 3rd period Senior Seminar class. I have never been someone who really likes English but I really don’t mind this class at all. I have a lot of my friends in this class which is great. The things we do in this English class compared to most are not as boring as the others. 

Rating Classes

By: Alexis Dawkins

As a senior in highschool, I take many different classes to improve my GPA. Today I am going to be rating them. 

To start, first period which is precalculus with Ms. Muldrow. I have always excelled in math and learning the ways of every concept easily but this class has challenged me recently. It may be the senioritis getting to me but the second semester of senior year has been my most challenging one yet, not just in math but in every class. I have this class with mostly juniors and only a few seniors so we are outnumbered. This class has to be a solid 7.5/10 because I like Ms. Muldrow but it is not my favorite class. 

Second period is Human Health and Development. This is with Mrs. Sanders who is also the school nurse. I took this because I needed a lab science to graduate but this class has taught me a lot so far about the human body and different systems throughout. I am in this class with all girls except for one boy and five of the twelve in the class are seniors. We spend a lot of time goofing off but we do learn a lot. I rate this class a 9.5/10. 

Third period is Senior Seminar or English 12 and this is with Mrs. Mattews. I had her for English 10 my sophomore year and I enjoy having her as a teacher but I will admit that I do not enjoy reading, writing, or anything else that comes along with an English class. I do enjoy the people in this class and the discussions we have but I will admit that the content of the class is not my favorite. This class is a 6.7/10 for me. 

These are my first three classes and my next period is my digital media which is taught by Coach Ripley. This class gives us freedom to be as creative as we want to be. This class is one of my favorite classes because it is such a relief in the middle of the day after three stressful periods before. This class is going to be rated at a 9/10.