THE ROOKERY

School Without Walls Student Newspaper

A COVID Stock Market Guide for High Schoolers

Mar 22

A COVID Stock Market Guide for High Schoolers

Recently, I have found myself drawn towards the stock market as a way to learn a new skill in quarantine and make some money. Over the past two months, I have watched as friends made several times what I make from a day of work on a single trade. However, a lot of their trades have been based on hype and the conditions of the currently volatile market, making them more akin to bets than actual investments. As of late, stocks seem to only go up, especially recent hits GameStop

COVID-19 In Brazil

Savannah Wright

Mar 22

COVID-19 In Brazil

While the Covid-19 pandemic has affected facets of life worldwide, some countries have been significantly more affected than others. In the past couple of months, the rollout of several different versions of Covid-19 vaccines have provided a light at the end of the tunnel for many. Different countries have approved many labs’ vaccines that all use varying technology. Currently, the three vaccines approved in the United States have been distributed first to those deemed most i

American Rescue Plan

Josie McCartney

Mar 22

American Rescue Plan

Last Thursday, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan he proposed to combat the recession and increased unemployment and poverty caused by the decrease in economic activity during the coronavirus pandemic. The package passed Congress along party lines and after dozens of hours of deliberation. The passage is a step towards what Biden and many Democrats, including the two Georgia senators whose victories handed Democrats narrow control of the Senate, cam

Under The Microscope

A long time coming for 2021 March Madness

Mar 15

A long time coming for 2021 March Madness

On March 12, 2020, to the dismay of college basketball enthusiasts across the country, the NCAA officially cancelled March Madness. One of the first major COVID cancellations, it was met with disappointment across the basketball community. Duke’s Cassius Stanley, now a guard for the Indiana Pacers, spoke for players and fans alike when he called the decision “heartbreaking.” The players hurt most by the decision were undoubtedly college seniors, who had waited four years for

Mixed Feelings Over Walls' Reopening

Josie McCartney

Mar 7

Mixed Feelings Over Walls' Reopening

Nearly a year ago, schools across the country moved to online instruction. Now, School Without Walls has brought a limited number of students back into the building on a hybrid schedule, the latest chapter in the debate on compromise between safety and education. The school has invited certain students back for term three, prioritizing freshmen, at-risk students, students with a 504 plan or an Individualized Educational Plan, and students who are failing a class. These studen

A Little R&R

Mar 4

A Little R&R

In a year of Covid cloistering, it’s surprising but true: The most entertaining novel I’ve read is 300 pages of a woman sleeping. Ottessa Moshfegh’s darkly funny My Year of Rest and Relaxation follows an unnamed narrator who seems to have it all: size-two waist, large inheritance, and job at a Chelsea art gallery, for a start. Yet this twenty-something Columbia graduate, recently orphaned, remains deeply unsatisfied and detached. Unwilling to consciously experience any more l

Mar 3

Coronavirus Stigmatization Leads to Increase in Attacks on Asian Americans

Racism against Asian Americans in the US is nothing new, but COVID-19 has heightened racial tension and increased racially-motivated violence nationally. As COVID-19 spread across the globe, triggering lockdowns and shutting down businesses, violence against Asian Americans in the US shot up. Recorded hate crimes against Asian Americans in New York City alone have increased nearly tenfold since the beginning of the pandemic, from three in 2019 to 28 in 2020. Leaders, includin