PANDEMIC PUPPIES

GRACIE LEWANDOWSKI Managing Editor

Photo by Zoey Cascio

Zoey Cascio’s dog, Captain poses for a picture. Captain helps Cascio exercise by going on walks.

For many, the pandemic has caused feelings of isolation and a lack of companionship. Many have reverted to filling these voids with furry friends, such as puppies. When daily necessities like soap and flour were flying off the shelves, people rapidly adopted puppies to cope with the ever changing world around them.

According to the Washington Post and their Covid Impact Report, adoption rates increased about 34 percent from pre pandemic times to the beginning of it. Sophomore Zoey Cascio and her family adopted a plott hound german shepherd boxer mix named Captain. They got him from Wolf Trap Animal Rescue in July of 2021. “Our family decided to get a puppy because we had always wanted an animal that we could take with us on trips, run with, and just to add another member to our family,” Cascio said. Exercising together, company, and the playfulness and happiness he brings her are just a few of the benefits Cascio gets from her dog Captain.

Research shows that owning a dog is beneficial to health. As stated by Time USA, dogs can reduce stress, lead to lower blood pressure levels, and can even decrease the risk of asthma in kids. Along with the benefits to owners, economically, the puppy boom turned into an economic boom as adoption sites and pet stores all over the world saw more business than ever before.

Sophomore Katelyn Sullivan is another pet owner who got her 16 month old labradoodle, Quincy, during the pandemic. Sullivan says that he’s known for sitting oddly, is very stubborn, and loves to play with his friend, Tucker. “He has a HUGE personality and thinks the world revolves around him. When he’s hungry, he hits his bowl with his paw until someone brings him food.” In addition, the words “Tucker” and “best friend” can’t be mentioned in her household as Quincy will start crying until someone takes him out to play. Despite his goofy behaviors, Sullivan and her family couldn’t be happier to have him in their lives.

As claimed by The Week, nearly 13 million households in the U.S. added pets to their family in 2020. Soaring adoption rates brought the U.S. cat and dog populations up to 160 million, close to double the number it was half a century ago. Pet owners spendings on pet supplies and food has reached $103 billion and is still expected to rise significantly. Although Covid caused many businesses to lose a significant amount of money, pet stores and businesses were not among those.

“My dog has helped because it has given me something to do during the day. It has also given me a new sense of responsibility,” Cascio said. Puppies helped get many through these unprecedented times as everything known and loved changed in the blink of an eye. Without puppies, it’s unknown how many people all around the world would have dealt with the pandemic. For that we thank our pandemic puppies!

Photo by Katelyn Sullivan

Katelyn Sullivan’s dog, Quincy, rides in the front seat. His huge personality makes him a great dog.

The Covid Slide

DEVON RUDOLPH

Editor-in-Chief

Students are, on average, five months behind in math due to Covid interference last year, a McKinsey study found. This Covid Slide is similar to the “Summer Slide” where students lose some of their progress in school while on vacation. Over the “Summer Slide,” it is calculated that students fall one month behind on achievement scores, however the Covid Slide is predicted to be much worse. The Students are, on average, five months “ lack of in-per- behind in math. son learning in schools expanded the difference in learning between high and low income areas and racial groups. In addition to falling behind -McKinsey Study ” in school, this loss in learning is expected to negatively impact lifetime earnings.

“We made it through about 80 percent of the units,” said sophomore Abbey Chun. “I definitely understand in-person math better because there is more accessibility to teachers and asking questions… they’re more approachable and it’s easier to ask and answer questions.”

Last year’s atypical schooling caused massive losses of learning. Along with the inability for most schools to have classes in-person, online school offered many additional

Last year’s atypical schooling caused massive losses of learning. Connection errors, mic and video problems, missing interaction, and lack of participation all contributed to falling behind in class.

challenges. Connection errors, mic and video problems, missing interaction, and lack of participation all contributed to falling behind in class. “Unfinished learning” is a term used by studies to describe “the reality that students were not given the opportunity this year to complete all the learning they would have completed in a typical year,” said McKinsey. “It was difficult to know who was engaged and who wasn’t,” said Sandra Bergeson, a high school math teacher. “But I think there were some students who were just naturally quiet so the inability to see them and to look at their work was really hard last year.”

The McKinsey study used test scores from the Curric-

The Covid Slide

How far Behind in Math are Students due to Covid Interferences?

Photo by Colin Beenhouwer

Last year’s atypical schooling caused massive losses of learning. Connection errors, mic and video problems, missing interaction, and lack of participation

ulum Associates’ i-Ready in-school assessment and translated them into months of learning. While it is impossible to calculate the exact unfinished learning, the study compared the recent test scores to past years to predict how far behind they are currently. The statistics estimate five additional months of learning were lost because of Covid last year. Educators attempt to make up for this by teaching slower to allow students time to catch up. Over 97 percent of educators reported seeing some learning loss in their students over the past year when compared with children in previous years (CNBC, 2021).

“We’re not doing it necessarily right at the beginning of the year, but we know that there are pieces that are going to be missing as we go through different units,” said Bergeson. “IB, for instance, we’ve slowed down a couple of our pacing for our units because we anticipated [the students] didn’t learn or didn’t master some of that material. In geometry, we’ve touched base with Algebra teachers from last year to talk about some of those skills that we should emphasize.”

Economic and race factors also have an impact, increasing the amount of unfinished learning. “Students of color and low-income students suffered most. Students in majority-Black schools ended the school year six months behind in both math and reading, while students in majority-white schools ended

Unfinished learning could reduce lifetime “ up just four months behind in math and three months behind in readearnings...by an ing,” McKaverage of $49,000 insey found. “Students in to $61,000. predominantly low-income schools and in urban locations also lost more learning during the pandemic than their peers in high-income rural and suburban schools.” The study estimated that the -McKinsey Study ” learning loss was seven months in schools with income household averages less than $25,000, five months in schools with income household averages between $25,000 and $75,000, and only four months in schools with income household averages greater than $75,000.

It is estimated that these learning losses will have long term effects and impact future salaries. “Unfinished learning could reduce lifetime earnings for K–12 students by an average of $49,000 to $61,000,” said McKinsey. “While white students may see lifetime earnings reduced by 1.4 percent, the reduction could be as much as 2.4 percent for Black students and 2.1 percent for Hispanic students.” Covid has undoubtedly set back math progress made last year and negatively impacted students.