Coronavirus/COVID-19 – The Shield Online

MINDFUL MOMENT: Anna Fox practices one of James Butler’s techniques featuring mindful stretching. In the video, Butler, an AISD mindfulness and SEL specialist, explains that this stretch, called the “pretzel/crossing the mid-line,” aims to “get the right and left sides of our brain to communicate” and “releases oxytocin in our brains which helps us feel calm and happy.” The video and many others can be accessed on YouTube under the hashtag #mindfulAISD. Photo by Ellen Fox.

Hopefully #mindfulAISD is here to stay

May 28, 2020

EXPLOSIONS OF NEW MUSIC: Shortly into the early days of quarantine, Senior Jazz Aguilar released her debut single:

A musical response to COVID-19

May 26, 2020

UNFINISHED: The photo assignment calendar in the journalism room sits unattended, exactly the way the photo editors left it on March 12. It has become a record of all the games that were meant to be played and covered and a reminder of the year that could have been. Photo by Dave Winter.

Knights stick together, look ahead

May 25, 2020

Top Notch employee Abbey Sanders serves a customer's pickup order on May 8. Top Notch opened for carhop service and other distance delivery methods on May 4. Owner Kelly Chappell said that he prioritizes the comfort and safety of his employees. “We are still working at a limited staff capacity, but the people who are there very much want to be there,

Local eateries cautious about resuming dine-in services

May 22, 2020

While many Austinites fiddle their days away stuck at home, a sizable group of less fortunate souls must continue their struggle for survival on the streets. The irony in this picture speaks to me as the man on the right leans against a sign asking people to stay home and slow the spread, with all his worldly belongings in the suitcase to his left. The homeless population has felt the toll of this virus as much as, or more than any of us. Photo by Caleb Melville.

Austin streets silenced by COVID-19

May 22, 2020

Jordan Bibby was among the seniors who picked up a yard sign during the curbside pickup on Friday. Bibby said she hopes the virtual graduation ceremony gives her a sense of closure. “I feel like these past two months have blurred into one super long day with no real feeling of completion or moving toward a huge goal,” Bibby said. “It feels like nothing is real right now since I can’t see, feel, or experience [graduating], so maybe this will be the thing that makes graduation feel like a reality.” Photo by Elaine Bohls-Graham.

AISD to stage virtual graduation ceremony on June 16; Mac to celebrate Class of 2020 with May 28 parade

May 19, 2020

In 2011, Lindsey Wagner was a Mac graduate set on studying to become an nurse at Stephen F. Austin University. In 2020, Wagner is a nurse battling COVID-19 on the front lines in Denver.

From the band hall to a COVID-19 hospital unit

May 15, 2020

NOTE-ABLE ENDEAVORS: My dad has a series of sticky notes covering one wall, a few windows, and the center table. There are many different moving parts to running a business and the simplest way to keep track of all these different factors is to write them down on sticky notes and put them in easy places to remind him. Systems like this are used frequently to improve work efficiency throughout many different industries but they are usually digitized; I have never seen anybody use actual sticky notes other than him. I don’t see how it is any better than just putting them into some form of “reminders” app but it seems to increase his productivity so I trust his process. Photo by Angus Sewell McCann.

Home, (office) suite, home

May 14, 2020

It may take some creativity to stay in touch with those we love but cannot see face to face during this pandemic, but it can be done. You just have to think outside the box you are quarantined in. Illustration by Evelyn Griffin.

Staying connected (from a distance)

May 13, 2020

Ana Rosa Tenorio and Ivan Ramos, Austin ISD transportation employees based at Nelson Field, unpack Chromebook chargers to be bundled with Chromebooks at Anderson High School. Anderson is one of five locations hosting curbside computer services Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Curbside computer services are also available at Austin and Crockett high schools and at the AISD Performing Arts Center. Photo by Dave Winter.

District aims to create a level online playing field

May 12, 2020

FROM ONE BATTLE TO THE NEXT: British World War 1 Soldiers wear medical masks amidst the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918. Jeremi Suri, a history professor at the University of Texas, explained that influenza reached Europe on a military ship due to World War 1. “World War 1 was what actually was the main mechanism by which the virus spread,” Suri said. “It started in Kansas, it spread to Europe on a military ship, and then it came back. So, it was spread by the war.

In comparing pandemics, hindsight of 1918 is 2020

May 11, 2020

The decrease in transportation emissions has been a positive environmental impact as normally busy streets like Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just south of the UT campus have been virtually devoid of traffic. Photo by Henry Winter.

What is COVID-19’s impact on the environment?

May 9, 2020

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Coronavirus/COVID-19