New York allowing minyans, Los Angeles not yet
By Molly Litvak, Shalhevet High School
May 22, 2020
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Wednesday that religious gatherings of up to 10 people will be permitted there starting tomorrow, but Los Angeles rabbis say they have not heard anything about when davening and religious services might be permitted in Los Angeles or California. Head of...
Working Out While Staying In
By Sarah Percy, Francis Howell Central High School
May 22, 2020
Quarantining in your own home is no easy task. The hours become days, the days weeks, and the weeks a month. And all the while, as time goes on, your motivation continues to deteriorate with each passing minute. Motivation to do the school assignments that at this point seem monotonous and a way to...
Trapped
By Hanah Kitamoto and Misha Canin
May 22, 2020
Six feet. That’s the distance every person is recommended to stay physically apart from others, according to the CDC. Although social media and other online communication methods can partly fulfill the sense of isolation, some may believe seeing a friend over a screen simply isn’t the same as in-person....
Cal High students are working in grocery stores as essential workers
By Liann Bielicki, California High School - CA
May 22, 2020
Mile-long lines, brawls over toilet paper and waves of frenzied shopping have put the brunt of the coronavirus panic on grocery store workers. While other workers across the world may find ways to turn their jobs digital, these employees must be at work because of the highly essential nature of their...
Working from home: teaching while parenting
By Bess Frerichs, West High School
May 22, 2020
When schools closed after spring break to not reopen for the rest of the year, science teacher Jenny Eustice had to figure out how to homeschool her kids while teaching her classes. Jenny’s kids are both elementary age: her daughter Peyton is eight and her son Charlie is six, and while elementary schools...
What Will The Future Look Like?
By Connor Thompson, Lake Ridge High School
May 22, 2020
COVID-19 has brought our way of life to a screeching halt, but we have adapted. First responders have gone above and beyond the call of duty to keep those who have been infected alive. Grocery store employees have continued to work so that the American public still can put food on their table. Just two...
COVID-19 has transformed the world into a classroom
By Sydney Kim, Sacred Heart Greenwich
May 22, 2020
This year, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created a period of great uncertainty and enormous change. Although we have reshaped our definitions of work, shopping, and socialization, we, as a country and as a world, are struggling to redefine education. As politicians, principals, and parents...
Quiet Halls and Longer Days
By Rachel Kuntz, Powell High School
May 22, 2020
First, the cancellation of sports practices and activities. Next, a three-week spring break. And then, the cancellation of all spring events and the transition to remote learning. No one could have prepared for where we are today, bringing worries of the repercussions that follow. Despite...
New mothers face isolation challenges amidst COVID19
By Kayla Estrada, Kings High School
May 22, 2020
Lisa DeBord felt blessed to have her husband with her the whole time during the delivery of her third child on April 3. The hard part came afterward when no one was allowed to visit. “No one was allowed to visit me after my son was born, including my Mom or my other children. All doctors and...
COVID-19 and the class of ’21: a new approach to college admissions
By Taylor McGuire and Eliya Howard-Delman
May 21, 2020
With colleges and universities closed due to COVID-19, many students approaching their senior year are wondering, “what will the application process look like for me?” With SAT and ACT tests canceled or postponed and college campuses closed, the application process is bound to be exceptionally different...
Atlanta community comes together to support healthcare workers
By Lindsay Ruhl, Henry W. Grady High School
May 21, 2020
Although the Atlanta community can’t physically come together, people across the city have come up with various ways to stay connected while supporting healthcare workers fighting COVID-19. Every night at 8 p.m., residents in the Midtown area go out on their balconies to cheer and chant for the frontliners. “I live right in the middle of the cheeri...
Is This Love? Episode 6: Self-love in self-isolation
By Kimberly Mitchell, Anna Feng, Zachary Khouri, and Samantha Chu
May 21, 2020
Two months into quarantine, people all around the world continue to adjust to their new life under a pandemic. In this episode of Is This Love? Zach, Kim, Alena, and Anna discuss how social distancing and coronavirus have affected their progress towards self-love and how to stay positive amidst a glo...
COVID-19 poses difficult dilemma for rising college freshmen
By Cate Bikales, Lincoln High School - OR
May 21, 2020
COVID-19 has created a challenging situation for current high school seniors: go to college in the fall or skip it? According to a national survey of 487 rising college freshmen conducted by the Art & Science Group, a higher-education consulting firm, one in six high school seniors who originally...
Georgia Census groups scramble to change practices amidst COVID-19
By George Lefkowicz, Henry W. Grady High School
May 20, 2020
The United States Constitution mandates that every 10 years, the government counts everybody under its jurisdiction. Since its start in 1790, the U.S. Census has attempted a direct count of every person in the country to determine direct taxes, congressional districts and billions of dollars of funding...
COVID-19 economic crisis impacts Grady community economically
By Ava Smith, Henry W. Grady High School
May 20, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has not only affected public health, it has also affected the health of the economy. Amid shutdown orders across the country, Georgia was one of the last states to issue a “shelter at home” policy and mandated that “non-essential” businesses close their doors. One...
Senior Slump: The Favorable, The Dreadful and The Disheartening
By Addie Dawson, Cedar Park High School
May 20, 2020
This 2020 school year is the most unique year that many of us have ever lived through, with a global pandemic breaking out right before school let out for spring break on March 13. Little did the students know, once they left for spring break, they’d really be leaving for an early summer vacation,...
LCPS Changes Grading Policy Due to Covid-19
By Morgan Fischer, Dominion High School
May 20, 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing LCPS schools, the LCPS administration and school board decided to change how the 4th quarter would be graded as well as how final grades would work for students across the county. LCPS has been teaching its students through its Continuity in Education plan in which,...
The show must go on: virtual orchestra performance brings home the music
By Elle Chen, St. Paul Academy and Summit School
May 20, 2020
Stripped of one of the few chances a year that they get to perform and showcase their hard work, one could say the students and teachers participating in the Music Department had one of the biggest losses after transitioning to the Distance Learning Plan. Especially for students in the orchestra prog...
Paramedics handle COVID-19 with care
By Ava Hoezel, Stillwater Area High School
May 20, 2020
Long hours, weird schedules, little sleep, busy days, slow days and stressful intense work-- these are experiences paramedics encounter day to day. Now that COVID-19 has entered the United States, the job of paramedics has become even more difficult. Like everyone else, paramedics' lives have changed...
EXCLUSIVE: Governor Beshear on reopenings, Class of 2020, anxiety, the future
By Reece Gunther, KC Ciresi, Payton Carns, and Maddie Gamertsfelder
May 20, 2020
In an exclusive interview with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Beshear indicated that he is focused on making every effort possible to allow students the opportunity to attend school in the fall. However, in-person instruction will look quite a bit different than it has in the past. “I want to do...
COVID-19 & BSM: An Oral History of Spring Semester 2020
By Reilly Rahill, Maggie Anderson, Flint Frohman, Jackie Bucaro, Brady Giertsen, Keegan Gustafson, Kaitlyn McTigue, Will Thompson, Sophie Ludwig, Cole DeChellis, Sydney Wilharm, Morgan Anderson, Elizabeth Valley, Grace Cochrane, Elena Latterell, Zach Carden, Claudia Scherer, Cooper Gay, Brady Wine, and Sam Best
May 20, 2020
This year, spring semester at Benilde-St. Margaret’s has looked a lot different. The COVID-19 pandemic has completely transformed the traditional school year, moving to a completely online platform. As everybody has adapted and coped with this drastic change, many have overcome different personal ch...
Physical Education classes make changes since students are working out at home
By Kamm Kojima, Mid-Pacific Institute
May 20, 2020
Breaking out a sweat, students in Mid-Pacific physical education classes trade the weights, rackets and balls they might use in a regular class for items around their house. With Mid-Pacific moving to virtual learning in response to the coronavirus pandemic, teachers said they had to change their...
A virtual Ramadan
By Hayate Mustefa, West High School
May 20, 2020
You rush to a table full of food as soon as you hear the call to prayer. “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest, God is the greatest) is all that echoes in your head as you break your fast with dates and sips of water. As your thirst becomes quenched and your veins moist, you turn to you...
Music despite distance
By Jane Yu, Lake Zurich High School
May 20, 2020
The music never stops, even when concerts, shows, and performances do. Many students are keeping up with their private lessons at home by using various platforms such as Skype, FaceTime, and Zoom to interact with their teachers. “I think that especially during this time when we’re not singing...
‘I wish I had known that this would be the end’
By Hanah Kitamoto, Headliners in Education
May 19, 2020
Typically during this time of year, high school seniors could be seen wearing their caps and gowns walking across a stage, or being occupied with countless graduation parties to attend. However, this is not the case for the Class of 2020. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced in a press conference...
Playing Amid Pandemic
By Ethan Menning, Gretna High School
May 19, 2020
Victory after victory. That is the legacy and output of the band program, and this was thought to be interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure of school forced the band to cancel many of its competitions. “It has been difficult not seeing each other every day and making music,” band director...
Quarantine prompts students to switch up their hairstyles
By Mareesa Islam, Granite Bay High School
May 19, 2020
With people unable to leave their homes due to the shelter-in-place mandate, many have found themselves feeling adventurous and experimental when it comes to switching up their physical appearance. For example, some have found that changing their hairstyle while in quarantine is a simple, yet significant...
In retrospect: Looking back on the 1918 influenza pandemic
By Victoria Tong, Richard Montgomery High School - MD
May 19, 2020
675,000. That is the number of Americans who lost their lives during the 1918 influenza pandemic—a number larger than all U.S. war casualties from World War I to the present day. As the death toll for COVID-19 continues to climb every day, there is no better time to look back on the deadliest disease out...
Boutwells seniors persevere through pandemic
By Sandy Liu, Stillwater Area High School
May 18, 2020
Throughout the community, people are forced to adapt to a new way of life. While some may be mildly inconvenienced by drive-by pick-ups, distance working or learning and the ever-present challenge of fervently sanitizing everything in sight, others face more dangerous, threatening adversities. Stories...
Southerner Podcast: Councilman Westmoreland talks COVID-19
By Griffin Richie, Henry W. Grady High School
May 18, 2020
Although COVID-19 has forced many Atlantans to change how they live, go to school and work, the City of Atlanta has tried to utilize its resources in order to minimize the impact of the pandemic and uphold the common interests of its residents and the region. Councilman Matt Westmoreland, who is also...
Seniors grapple with unusual graduation, reflect on high school
By Akansha Singh, Coppell High School
May 18, 2020
March 6 - the last day before spring break - was a day few Coppell High School seniors could have predicted would be their last day on campus. For the past two months, social distancing requirements have presented a new way of life. For CHS seniors, the last few months have been an unprecedented end...
Recruitment Roadblock
By Davis Gutow, Greenhill School
May 18, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many select sports teams to cancel summer trips, tournaments and showcases, complicating the college search of some elite Greenhill athletes. Greenhill has many student-athletes who compete on club teams or select teams outside of school. These student-athletes spend...
Doctor explains how outside affects social distancing
By Elizabeth Trevathan, St. Paul Academy and Summit School
May 18, 2020
Minnesota's current Stay at Home order expires May 17, then enters a "Stay Safe MN" strategy. The state recommends elderly people and people with underlying medical conditions to continue staying home due to statistics showing COVID-19 affects them more. Social distancing recommendations still apply to...
Faculty take different approaches to e-learning
By Francisco Avila, Mount Carmel High School - IL
May 18, 2020
Many believe that ever since the COVID-19 virus came out it primarily affects those working on the front lines, such as nurses, doctors, and paramedics but another group that has been affected is educators. With students being told to stay at home and school years being canceled, teachers around the g...
COVID-19 Quarantine Hinders Religious Observances
By Zara Tola, Marquette High School
May 18, 2020
While the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus has postponed many traditional events, these forthcoming weeks of quarantine include several religious observances the public can’t necessarily reschedule. Lent and Easter Quinton Durer, senior, said his ongoing observation of Lent has been slightly inhibi...
Environmental side effects
By Katherine Shoppa, West High School
May 18, 2020
In the past few months, the world has been turned upside down. There have been over 3.2 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and on April 27, the U.S. surpassed 1 million cases and became the country with the most people infected. Towns all over the world are deserted as governments have implemented “stay...
From the band hall to a COVID-19 hospital unit
By Madelynn Niles and Alysa Spiro
May 18, 2020
Covered from head to toe in a pale blue gown, gloves, face shield and an N95 mask, Lindsey Wagner is only inches away from a coronavirus patient. The air is still. Uncertainty fills each corner. The soft, muffled chatter of the television across the room catches her attention. She turns. A news anchor,...
Wayland community unites to celebrate the class of 2020
By Christina Taxiarchis, Wayland High School
May 18, 2020
The Wayland community has come together to participate in weekly parades celebrating the class of 2020. Each Saturday, from April 25 onward, WHS seniors and their families caravan around town to honor and acknowledge the class of 2020’s accomplishments. On March 12, the class of 2020 unknowingly...
Volunteers conduct mass COVID-19 antibody testing on campus
By Avani Kashyap, Coppell High School
May 18, 2020
On May 2, in the midst of rain and 25 mph winds, volunteers spent their day conducting COVID-19 antibody tests at Coppell High School. The drive-through testing, organized by Metroplex Medical Centres, was for Coppell residents, first responders, health care providers and essential workers. Participants...
Driver’s Licenses on Hold Until COVID-19 Emergency Sanctions are Lifted
By Gabby Laurente, San Juan Hills High School
May 18, 2020
Student drivers have lost the opportunity to receive their license at the time of their scheduled DMV appointments. This is due to the cancellation of all behind the wheel sessions at the hands of the statewide stay-at-home order implemented on March 19th, 2020. Many students turning sixteen this...
Potential online fall semester concerns Wayland’s future and current college students
By Jessica Reilly and Joanna Barrow
May 18, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic is far from over, and its consequences might stretch farther than students initially thought: the 2020 fall semester is now in jeopardy. Depending on the status of COVID-19, schools may decide not to reopen their campuses. Though Boston University (BU) is currently planning...
Opinion: We need to stop complaining about quarantine
By Ethan Torban, Carlmont High School
May 18, 2020
As humans, one of our natural instincts is greed. When we lived in the caves, we had to be greedy to survive, as the ability to successfully hunt and gather determined whether one would live or die. However, now, humanity has a different kind of greed. In fact, we foster many types of greed, with...
Coronavirus pandemic impacts students’ mental health
By Sara Marquez, Daniel Pearl Magnet High School
May 15, 2020
Amid the chaos of siblings running around and the dog’s barking, students have to find a way to focus on their online work and get their assignments done before due dates regardless of the situation. “It is a bit more stressful having to do all my school work at home because it’s easy for me to get distracted easily,” junior Brenda Zaragoza said...
Home, (office) suite, home
By Thea Cahoon, Scarlet Craig, Carter Eason, Olive Embry, Megan McHorse, Georgie Murray, Angus Sewell McCann, Dave Winter, and Addison Phillips
May 15, 2020
The photojournalism students continue to capture complex images of the interplay of work and family during the COVID-19 pandemic. These candid moments reveal that striking a balance between work and family has been made more difficult during the coronavirus outbreak for a variety of reasons. Some families...
Stay-at-home athletes
By Owen Aanestad, West High School
May 15, 2020
The spring sports season came to a sudden halt on March 16 when the Iowa City Community School District announced that they would suspend classes until April 13, preventing track and field’s upcoming meets and practices along with the other spring sports’ first practices. As school grounds cl...
Thursday night is the band’s night
By Ava Duggin, Kirkwood High School
May 15, 2020
It’s 6 p.m. on a Thursday night in “the Wood.” Rebecca Friesen, KSD director of bands, would usually be in downtown Kirkwood enjoying the annual summer concert series. But tonight she stands on her front porch playing her clarinet, with her son playing his trumpet on her left. With concerts and...
High school camp counselors/campers fear camp cancellation
By Allie Nunn and Eliya Howard-Delman
May 15, 2020
As WHS officially comes to a close for the year due to the spread of COVID-19, summer plans become uncertain as is the decision of whether or not summer camps will remain open. Every year, hundreds of camps open up for the summer and are filled with students who could stay for a day or the entire summer....
Breaking down the surge in COVID-19 testing
By Talia Lissauer and Maddie Schutte
May 14, 2020
Minnesota's new $36 million COVID-19 testing strategy has given rise to a new level of confusion surrounding the severity of the virus, the rate at which it spreads and what these numbers mean for the future. This new plan has the capacity for up to 20,000 people being tested per day, rather than ...
SJS alum remembers 1946 polio outbreak that prompted School closure
By Abigail Poag, St. John's School - TX
May 14, 2020
Nearly 75 years before the COVID-19 pandemic would prompt the School’s longest unplanned closure to date, St. John’s faced another viral threat: polio. On Nov. 6, 1946, the St. John’s Board of Trustees shut down the School for a 10-day quarantine after the second community member within one...
Project Face Shield
By Emma Baum, Clayton High School
May 14, 2020
For Bill Moore, the COVID-19 outbreak is a crisis. But it’s also an opportunity to use his experience to help his community. “I went to school to become an engineer because I wanted to help people… It’s something I have been working on my whole life, how can I help people and where can...