Page 58 - My FlipBook 1

THE TEACHER
AKELA LEACH
FIFTH-GRADE TEACHER,
LANIER
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Tulsa
39,105: Number of students
enrolled in Tulsa public schools
83%: Percentage who are eco-
THE EIGHT- nomically disadvantaged
YEAR-OLD
KATIE H.
SECOND GRADER
Winona Lake, Indiana
124,000: Number of
U. S. public and private
schools closed for
the remainder of the
school year
55.1 MILLION: Number of
K-through-12 students now
being homeschooled
Katie named her new pet
guinea pig Pepper.
I’M GETTING MORE time with my
family and especially with my dad. He
finally has some days off. WE’VE BEEN DOING surprises. Like,
MOSTLY, I’VE BEEN sad, but then I my parents will take me and my sister
get really happy. It’s just weird not being somewhere we don’t know about. When
close to people that I really want to be we got my guinea pig, they made it some-
by. That’s the sad part. The happy part thing like, “We’re going to Dad’s work to
is that we get to do a bunch of fun stuff. feed the fish.” But we didn’t. We went to
I play outside. I ride my bike. We haven’t the pet store and got my guinea pig.
done that in a long time because of I MOSTLY LIKE holding my guinea
school. So I’m happy to be home. pig. That’s kind of my comfort animal.
SOMETIMES I DON’T know if peo-
ple are going to be sick, or if they’ll bring
it into our family, or if the guinea pig’s
going to be sick, or if something’s going
2 0 L I V E S , to happen that we don’t expect.
2 0 P E R S P E C T I V E S —As told to Adrienne Westenfeld

“I MOSTLY LIKE HOLDING MY GUI NE

W H A T THE EXOTIC-ANIMAL
VETERINARIAN
CHRISTIAN WALZER
W E ’ R E EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HEALTH,
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
Bronx, New York
LEARNING NADIA: Name of the tiger that first contracted
COVID-19 at WCS’s flagship park, the Bronx Zoo
EIGHT: The number of big cats at the zoo that have
tested positive (five tigers and three lions)

58 SUMMER 2020