By: Harmoni Thomas and Aya El Filali
Did you get a new puppy during the pandemic? People got Pandemic Puppies for many reasons. Everyone has been at home a lot more, and many thought that a puppy was something they always wanted, but never had time for. Now that everyone was stuck in the house, it was a good time to have a new friend. Registered Nurse Maria Pank works at Hill Health Medical Services in New Haven. The MS News interviewed nurse Maria Pank about her new pandemic puppy, Benny. Nurse Pank became Benny’s new owner in May of 2020. Benny was a rescue dog from Arkansas. Benny has a sad story, because he had a rough time after he was born. His first owner did not give him the care and love that he needed. Nurse Pank’s children wanted a puppy, and so she got Benny as a surprise for them. Benny is black, brown, and has a white line on his nose. He is half Pitbull and half Shepherd. Nurse Pank was afraid that her family wouldn't like Benny or that Benny wouldn't like his new family. But once Benny got to his new home it surprised her to see that everyone got along just great. Nazha Et-tabay is the aunt of a MS third-grader Aya El Filali. Aunt Nazha lives in Spain, and she became a pandemic puppy owner last year. Her dog’s name is Kuri. She found the puppy when he was all alone, roaming the streets outside. Aunt Nazha kept trying to get him to come with her for many days. On one rainy day when the back door was open, Kuri went inside Aunt Nazha’s home to get dry. This is how Kuri became a new family pet. The MS news also interviewed Brianna Ferguson, a 6th grader who got a puppy in June 2020. Brianna’s dog’s name is Kash. Kash was a birthday present for Brianna’s younger brother but he is the whole family’s dog. The family was not ready for a dog! He was a lot of work because he would cry until someone sat with him or gave him a toy to chew on and play with. He was also loud and messy. Brianna said that before they got Kash she was having a hard time during the pandemic, like many people. Once Kash became her friend she became happier and made some new friends. It has almost been one full year since Brianna and her family got Kash. Is your family thinking about getting a new puppy? It’s a BIG responsibility. And it’s a LOT of love and fun ! By Isabelle Capuras
You’ve most likely heard about TikTok, right? TikTok is an app that allows you to share ideas from all over the world, in video form! The most famous person on TikTok is Charli D’Amelio a 16-year-old professional dancer, who performs on TikTok. She has over 100 million followers from one dance she did -- the Renegade. She lives in Connecticut. TikTok is a very fun and addictive app. Whenever you need a break from something, you could space out on the app, and time flies while you watch these videos. As a creator on TikTok, I believe the app is actually very educational. I learn about four or five things every time I go on the app, like how to properly make a burrito, tips on digital drawing, and how to do easy eye makeup. There is also a feature where you list your age, and if it is below 10 or 9, Tik Tok puts a safety feature on which allows you to make videos, but not post them. It also helps with the videos you are seeing, to filter out any negative things, and videos that are not appropriate for your age. TikTok is very educational and easy to use, but there are some disadvantages. There are usually people posting inappropriate videos that the TikTok algorithm does not take down, for whatever reason. These videos are a variety of different inappropriate things that TikTok thinks is OK to be on the app. For example, I've seen a gory video without a warning that may trigger people and make them anxious. Another downside is that there are a lot of hackers, with links in their bios trying to track and hack your account. If the link does not start with “https,” it is not safe. TikTok tries its best to ban all accounts that are not safe and appropriate. Another downside is that you can lose track of time. TikTok can be addictive and can get out of hand. Setting a time limit is an easy way to control watching TikTok from using up all your time. The features of TikTok are very easy, for instance, buttons line up all at the bottom on the screen, having a small picture to indicate what it means. There’s one that looks like a house, and that indicates the page to watch Tik Tok, AKA Home! Then, there’s a magnifying glass. It indicates Search. A plus sign, (+) indicates the video maker. There, you can choose songs and record yourself singing, dancing or doing whatever to the song. There is also a little text box that indicates “Inbox”! That is where you check your notifications. Lastly, there’s a small person, like this “👤”. It indicates your videos and everything on your account. This is a way to check your account. TikTok can be very fun, and time consuming, yet it can lead to an unhealthy addiction, and distract you from important things, such as school, family, missing assignments, and much more. If you use TikTok, you should set a time limit for yourself, so you don’t get into a bad habit of losing track of time. By: Fatu Sankoh with MASH News staff
Every day when Nurse Maria Pank gets home, she and her kids must follow the same daily routine. Her kids do not hug her when she gets home until she washes her hands, removes her scrubs, and puts them in the laundry and takes a shower. She does this so nobody in her house gets sick with Covid. Mrs. Maria Pank is a loving nurse who works at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center giving general medical care to patients. She takes precautions as if every patient might have Covid-19 . She is very caring and does her best to help patients feel better. Nurse Pank gave an interview to the MASH journalism team, sitting in her office, with her door closed during the interview so patients and staff were safe. Being a nurse, Mrs. Pank’s work has especially been impacted because of the pandemic. While seeing patients she wears full PPE, (Personal Protection Equipment) including a gown, gloves, mask and face shield. Mrs. Pank recommends using an N-95 or a three-ply mask for the most protection. Due to her position, she feels nervous and assumes all patients have Covid. “When I take care of a patient I like to use facial expressions and make eye contact. With a mask that’s really hard to do. Sometimes I see patients over video,” she said. Before the pandemic, the nurses would work in groups, but now she sees patients alone to prevent transmitting the virus. She tries to see patients outdoors if the weather is warm enough. Overall, it is harder for her to communicate and comfort patients because of her masks and shield. At home, it has been just as hard. She’s married and has two children, who are 12 and 9 years old. During the pandemic, Mrs.Pank unfortunately lost her mother, who lived in assisted living, to Covid. And while she follows a strict routine everyday when she gets home from work, she knows it's best for the safety of her family. Recently, her family has adopted a dog (see related story). Despite these hardships, Mrs. Pank still has hope. Like other nurses, she has received the vaccine. While she had side effects, including some swelling, redness, pain in her deltoid, fever chills, body aches and nausea, she has done a lot of research and has not found any major health risks. She explained that the vaccine works; “It’s like a little instruction book. It goes into the body and tells your body how to make antibodies.” This vaccine is an mRNA vaccine, and scientists have been studying mRNA technology for 25 years. Normally when you put mRNA in the human body it destroys it but the Covid-19 vaccine developers used a coat of oil to protect the human body and stop the vaccine from breaking down. She said the vaccine was developed quickly because of the pandemic. While she is not not sure how long the vaccine lasts, it is stopping the spread of Covid because the vaccine is preventing symptoms like coughing and sneezing. In the end, herd immunity will enable us to take off our masks, she said. By: Chaymae Makhmarat and Ava Smith
Ms. Julia Anthony has dreamed of being a teacher since she was five years old. “Teaching was the only thing on my mind,” she said. Before Mauro Sheridan, Ms. Anthony worked at Amistad. She enjoys teaching third grade because students are more mature and they can have meaningful conversations. BUT, if she chose a grade to teach it would be second, because she has already taught it before. She enjoys teaching third grade because she enjoys teaching multiplication strategies. She also loves the books the kids read, too! When asked what she enjoys about working at MASH, she replied, “I love it, it’s very different from the school I came from and my best friend is Ms. Higginson, so I love being able to work with my best friend.” When she was younger she said school was hard for her since she was really hyper, but she learned to love school as she grew older. Ms. Anthony graduated from Western Connecticut State University and is currently taking classes for her Master’s degree at Southern. Ms. Anthony said that she enjoys exercise because it helps her clear her mind. She also enjoys seeing friends, traveling a lot before Covid, and loves to shop. Her favorite place to travel to is Europe. One way Covid-19 has affected Ms. Anthony is that she loves to give hugs and high fives, but she can’t because of Covid restrictions. Ms. Anthony has been vaccinated, but she’s still not able to give hugs and high fives to her students and friends. Her dream home would be in California because she would be able to open the doors right to the beach. She also said that she loves to read on the beach too. Her favorite singer is Justin Bieber but she doesn't know which one of his songs she likes the most. Her favorite candy is chocolate. One of her strengths is speaking her mind. Another strength is that she is a loyal friend. A goal Ms. Anthony said that she would like to get back into is running instead of walking a mile. She said “running the mile is much faster than walking the mile." |