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Pandemic Notebook

“Pandemic Notebook” is an ongoing collection of first-person, student-written articles about what it is like to live through the coronavirus pandemic

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Life, Learning & Loss During the Pandemic — in Students’ Own Words

Andrew Brownstein

My Chinese Grandfather’s Death Brought Home Pandemic’s Mental Health Toll

Cindy Chen

Mask Confusion and a Lesson on Privilege in Schools

Ianne Salvosa

Pandemic Notebook: A 5th Grader’s Education in Chickens and Ducks

Zora Borcila-Miller

Pandemic Notebook: Young Love in the Time of COVID-19

Ila Kumar

How Neil deGrasse Tyson Got a Chicago Senior Through the Pandemic

Jimmy Rodgers

Tales from the Hallway: What My Search for a Good Wi-Fi Signal Taught Me About Learning and the Value of Listening to My Neighbors

Ilana Drake

Pandemic Notebook: For Students from Low-Income, Immigrant Families, Getting into College Can Feel like Winning the Golden Ticket. The Pandemic Has Only Raised the Stakes

Bridgette Adu-Wadier

Student Voice: ‘Canvas’ Bitmojis, Fascinating Teacher Digressions and Other Reasons to Be Hopeful as Virtual School Starts Anew

Sadie Bograd

‘A Bird Trapped in a Golden Cage’: Amid the Pandemic, One Student’s Story of Abuse During Quarantine

The 74

Pandemic Notebook: 13 Students Across America Write About COVID-19, Their Disrupted School Year and the Disorienting New Normal

Andrew Brownstein

My Mom Is 55, Black, and Just Returned to Work in a Doctor’s Office in New York City. That’s Why I’m Scared

Rainier Harris

Student Voice: Student, Sibling, Mentor, Mess. Pandemic Has Me Juggling Roles and Craving Sleep

Bridgette Adu-Wadier

Student Voice: Two Weeks, Five Siblings and One Working Laptop. How I Navigated the Nation’s Largest School System in Search of an iPad and What It Taught Me About America’s Digital Divide

Brandon Yam

Teaching Nemo: How I Learned to Juggle Community College While Instructing My 9-Year-Old Nephew From Home

Safiya Al-Samarrai

Worst. Summer Break. Ever. How One D.C. Third-Grader Is Bracing for the Pain of Quarantine Without the Pleasure of School

Owain Williams

Student Voice: The Joys of Reading in Quarantine. At a Time Dominated by Technology, I’m Getting Lost in Books

Talia Natterson

Student Voice: Facing the ‘Crushing Impact of Isolation,’ Teens Struggling With Mental Health Problems During Pandemic Lean on Each Other

Emily Bach

Student Voice: The Night the Lights Went Out on My Baseball Career — and My Normal High School Life

Steven Rissotto

Student Voice: Connecting in ‘Ways That Are Terrifying and Beautiful,’ I’m Finding Meaning During the Pandemic Through Friendly Texts, Viral Memes and Joe Exotic

Asher Lehrer-Small

Student Voice: Caged In and Zoomed Out, I’m Dreaming of Getting Dirt Under My Fingernails and Learning Again in a Non-Virtual World

Sunaya DasGupta Mueller

Student Voice: We May Joke About ‘the Rona’ and Virtual Graduation, but Deep Down, We’re Scared. Here’s How I Learned to Manage Anxiety in the Time of COVID-19

Sky Carroll

Student Voice: Barking Dogs, Breathing Exercises and Eckhart Tolle — Diary of My First Day of ‘Social-Distance’ Learning at Sunny Hills High

Hope Li

Student Voice: Part Staycation, Part Home Detention, My Life During Pandemic Is a Study in Contrasts

Sadie Bograd