COVID-19

A global epidemic through the eyes of a 10-year-old, a journal by Ryan Marcinkowski

Ryan Marcinkowski, 10Basalt, CO A global epidemic through the eyes of a 10-year-old Ryan Marcinkowski, 10 Then I googled it. “Corona is an island  kingdom and the birthplace of Rapunzel in Disney’s 2010 animated feature film, Tangled. The central hub of Corona’s kingdom was built on an island and grew over many years.” I had a conversation with my mom’s cousin who was visiting us. He said, “Coronaviruses were first discovered in the mid to late 1900’s. Knowing how witty the writers can be I am sure they had knowledge of these viruses and slipped that in there as a joke back then.” Little did they know how much interest they would create later. * * * Since social distancing, I’ve adjusted to the changes. I have a schedule Monday – Friday which helps. This is what my day looks like. I wake up around 8:00 A.M then brush my teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, do homework, exercise, have lunch, do homework, go outside to bike, family time, dinner, get ready for bed. I feel okay about the changes in our community but the people in our town and our community have to come together, listen and stay home. People are more cautious but I still notice that people go and hangout with their friends when they should be social distancing. Instead they are not listening and putting everyone at risk. It’s frustrating to see. Local businesses are being affected due to COVID-19. Stores have had to close during this time or offer limited services. Everyone has to wear face masks to enter a restaurant or store. Restaurants have been able to offer food “To Go”, retail shops have been limiting customers to ten people at a time allowed or offering curbside pick up. As a family we have been shopping locally and supporting a local business two times a week. Just think if everyone could do that to support local businesses. It would help out our community. My Journal Log Friday, March  13, 2020 Today school tells us 3 extra days of Spring break due to COVID-19 as a safety precaution. Sunday, March 15, 2020 Today is my birthday party. A lot of people couldn’t come because they were social-distancing, but we still had fun with close friends and family that were visiting. Monday March 16 ,2020 Day 1 of social distancing for our family. Mom and Dad told us that we are not going anywhere for spring break. We originally planned on going to Japan and Thailand.  That’s where COVID-19 was, so we changed our travel plans to Hawaii. We ended up cancelling as a safety precaution. Then we found out that no one could travel from England into the United States due to COVID-19. My aunt, uncle and cousin were going to fly out from London over Easter for two weeks to visit. My Grand Dad was going to fly out from California for ten days. They had to cancel their trip. Friday March 20, 2020 My Dad had to tell his managers they don’t have jobs for 2 to 3 months. It is called furlough which is a temporary lay off. It was one of the hardest things he’s had to do. We are very lucky my Dad still has his job. Monday March 23, 2020 My Mom started a realistic homeschooling schedule. Tuesday March 24 ,2020 The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo officially postponed until summer 2021. This has not happened since the Berlin Summer Olympics in 1916 due to the outbreak of  World War 1. Thursday March 26, 2020 The stay at home order was issued starting today through April 17, 2020. April 1, 2020 Today Dad drove to Boulder to pick up my god sister who goes to CU to bring her to our home to keep her safe. She can’t fly home to Australia as they quarantine all passengers at a hotel in Sydney for two weeks and her parents did not feel comfortable having her go through that. She will be staying with us until it is safe for her to go back to university or fly home to Australia. I got to speak to my teachers today about online learning. It was great to hear the plan and also so nice to talk to them. I miss them! The Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis announced that schools are ordered to stay closed at least until April 30. We still have not heard an official date from the school district when we will be able to go back to school. April 2, 2020 Today we went on a field trip to check out the free lunches the Roaring Fork School District is handing out off the school bus. It was fun to actually see people for a change. April 3, 2020 My Mom and Dad told me that my archaeology trip to Crow Canyon in June was cancelled due to COVID-19. I was really looking forward to this trip with my teacher and friends. April 6, 2020 The Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis announced that the stay at home order is now through April 26, 2020. April 9, 2020 I had my first online Crew meeting with my class today. It was great to see and talk to my teacher and classmates. April 11, 2020 This morning we woke up to this alert. April 13, 2020 We had an online Crew with our class today. We got to see our teacher and classmates and participate which was a lot of fun. April 14, 2020 We had class online office hours today. We got to do a show and tell. I showed my drumstick I received from the drummer Chris Culos from the O.A.R concert I went to in February. It was great to see what other kids brought and ask questions. April 20, 2020 Governor Jared Polis announced that Eagle County will be the first county in Colorado to open back up. April 21, 2020 Our school district announced that school

Latest Fashion–the Mask, a cartoon by Natya Chandrasekar, 12

Natya Chandrasekar, 12Palo Alto, CA Latest Fashion–the Mask NATYA CHANDRASEKAR, 12 Being a young girl, fashion is something that I think about all the time and I saw how people were obsessed with the kind of mask they were buying: neutral colors, bold colors, colorful prints etc., and this cartoon was created on that idea. Natya is selling prints of all of her cartoons to raise funds for a nonprofit organization in her local area called REF (Ravenswood Education Foundation), which has established an emergency fund to provide financial relief related to the school closures due to COVID-19. Ninety percent of students in the school area qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, and the majority of their parents work hourly service jobs. REF is working closely with the school district to plan and address specific needs, including in technology and distance learning, food and food distribution, emergency childcare, and financial support. We at Stone Soup are very happy to support Natya in spreading the word, and congratulate her on her work and her fundraising efforts for her community–well done, Natya! You can look at the complete collection of cartoons and choose your favourites either in this Dropbox Folder or Google Drive folder, and write to Natya if you would like to obtain a copy of your own. You may pay for the prints either by making a direct donation to REF here, or discussing directly with Natya and her family.