(upbeat music) - Coming up next to a News Depth, should kids be in classrooms?

It's debatable.

Meet a photographer keeping her neighborhood picture perfect during the pandemic.

Plus a coach's creative approach to weightlifting has neighbors cheering.

And learn about the underwater volcano that made a big splash in the Pacific.

News Depth is now.

(upbeat music) A national debate about health and safety has hit the classroom.

Hello everybody, I'm Rick Jackson.

Thank you for joining us.

A new study finds that one of every five Americans have now had COVID 19, at least once since 2020.

That's due in large part to Omicron, a rapidly spreading new variant of the COVID-19 virus.

With so many people getting sick, schools across the country are once again switching to remote learning, or at least debating it for the safety of students and teachers.

This debate whether or not kids should be in school is a heated one with passionate voices on both sides.

A group of students in Massachusetts have come down squarely on one side.

They say they should not be in school because they don't feel safe there.

Sarah Kanji tells us about their walkout protest.

- [Sarah] About a dozen students at Boston Latin School walked out of class today as part of a citywide effort.

They say schools are not safe due to the COVID surge.

- In my family, I have someone who's like, two people who are immune compromised, and it's really bad with all these cases around.

And I don't want them to get sick.

- [Sarah] The walkout was in concert with an online rally organized by the Boston Student Advisory Council.

They want the state to allow remote learning.

- We need virtual learning options to ensure that students can get the education that they need while also making sure that there are no one at risk.

- [Sarah] The COVID surge is creating staff shortages in schools.

Mayor or Wu said yesterday, they're ready for remote if necessary.

- I keep emphasizing that you're closing our schools and moving to remote is a last resort, but it is one that we are prepared for.

- [Interviewer] Should remote learning just be off the table altogether?

- Off the table, altogether.

- [Sarah] Dr. Shira Doron with Tufts Medical Center says the overall health risks of being out of school, exceed the risks of being in school.

- What we have here as a situation where the risk to an individual is actually smaller than it has ever been when it comes to COVID-19.

While the societal risk is quite enormous right now.

- Thank you Sarah.

School officials say they appreciate that students are taking an active role in their own health and support their right to protest.

But as you heard, what makes this debate so tricky is that there's also strong evidence that school closings have had a negative effect on children's health.

Researchers looked at studies from 11 countries worldwide and found a decline in children's emotional wellbeing.

They also noted that kids were not getting enough exercise.

Many of you watching are at the center of this debate.

So we wanna hear from you.

Should schools resume in-person learning?

Head online to vote no, it's not safe, yes, we need to be in school or yes, but only with some changes.

Now, last week we asked you, should girls be allowed to play all the same sports as boys?

It was a pretty resounding yes.

A whopping 56% of you said yes, always.

From there though, an even split 22% of you said sometimes it depends.

And another 22% of you said no, never.

Whereas the debate over in-person learning continues, schools are taking steps to address their students' mental health during the pandemic.

Mental health refers to the health of our brain, which controls how we think, feel and act.

It's often hard to tell when someone's in poor mental health, because unlike a broken leg or a cut hand, we can't see it.

But taking care of our mental health is every bit as important.

In Iowa two schools are working to do just that by providing retreat rooms, to help students through stress and anxiety.

Gabe Cramer takes us there.

- Stress and anxiety of our students are kind of as high as we've ever seen it.

- [Gabe] Hempstead High School principal Lee Kolker, says that it is in part due to the many changes that have come with the pandemic.

- Starting back in March of 2021, students went home for the rest of that year and then doing some hybrid learning here in Dubuque.

The next year was students were here every other day.

And then we got back into some full-time learning to finish the year.

- [Gabe] Kolker says they've noticed a lot more students visiting their counselors throughout the day.

He says that prompted them to look at how they could expand the opportunities for students to treat their brain health.

And that's how the Brain Health Retreat Rooms were born.

- Brain health is so important.

And so that's why this room is so important for our students, because it gives them a calm place to come.

So that they can just find a place to sit down and relax and self-regulate.

- [Gabe] According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 80% of us students report feeling stressed, sometimes or often.

Staff at Dubuque schools hope these rooms will avoid those numbers in their schools.

The rooms, funded by the Brain Health Now nonprofit, will provide students with relaxing activities, like journaling and painting.

Aside from that, they'll get to work one-on-one with the school's brain health liaison.

- [Kari] I will also be coming around each student and I will be helping them with strategies that they can work on to kind of process through their emotions and help work through their struggles.

So that they can get back to class and back to learning.

- Thanks, Gabe.

If you're feeling stressed out or anxious, some quick things you can do are, take a walk, listen to music, write it out in a journal or (breaths in) Take a nice deep breath of air.

And of course it's always important to talk to an adult you trust about how you're feeling.

Another way to manage stressful situations is to have a close neat community by your side.

And this edition of Sketchbook, we meet a photographer who documented the strength and resilience of her neighborhood during the first year of the pandemic.

(dramatic sounds playing) - Oh, man that good, Scooby.

My name is Bridget Caswell, and I am a professional photographer.

I really tell stories with my photos.

I tend to gravitate towards taking photographs of people.

(upbeat music) I'm a firm believer of telling a story where you're at.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] And where she's at is Collinwood.

A diverse eclectic community, Northeast of downtown Cleveland.

- We have judges and artists and musicians and blue collar and police, firemen and really is across the board.

I think we pride ourselves in our sense of community.

- [Narrator] She's been an active presence in the neighborhood for 15 years.

But during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bridget saw things change in Collinwood as they did in neighborhoods across the world.

(upbeat music) - At the beginning of the pandemic everybody was trying, to figure out how to adapt and live and survive.

All of a sudden, you know, we all had to withdraw into our houses and you don't feel as connected.

When the pandemic started, I was riding my bike through my neighborhood with my daughter.

And I heard one of my neighbors was playing her accordion.

(slow music) And as I drove and I got closer to the music, really, I just had this moment where it clicked, where I realized that I needed to be telling the story of how this pandemic was affecting our neighborhood.

- [Narrator] And so Bridget began taking porch portraits of her neighbors.

A trend that photographers embraced across the country during the pandemic.

Families posed socially distant in front of their homes.

She posted them on her Instagram.

- [Bridget] There were hundreds of photographers going out and taking pictures outside.

But to me, it was really more about trying to help my neighborhood stay connected and feel seen.

(slow music) People were stopping me randomly on the street, "Hey, can you come and take my next."

You know, no one knew what was gonna happen.

So I think the feeling was hope that this was gonna get better sooner than later, I guess.

Yeah.

- [Narrator] But as the year progressed, hope gave way to uncertainty.

As the pandemic proved to have staying power.

- This is such a unique period in our lifetime.

And whenever I take a portrait of somebody, I connect with them.

And so I was invested in their lives and I wanted to see on a personal level, but also as a storyteller, how that year had impacted their lives.

- [Narrator] And so she returned to her original subjects and created dual portraits separated by a year.

They're compiled into a book she's called Homebody.

- And this is Zipper.

Zipper was one of the people at the beginning of the pandemic that was making masks for everybody in the neighborhood.

She was really, really great and thoughtful in making sure that people ware protected.

(slow music) We're a community of different experiences, so we had joys, we had celebrations, we had tragic loss.

- [Narrator] Homebody is also a gallery show, right in the community where it was created at Collinwood's photo centric.

Bridget's photos are paired with painter, Tim Callahan's pandemic work.

His work also centers around the neighborhood, but with different subjects in mind.

- [Tim] With the exception of few of them, a lot of my images are void of humans.

You know, of people.

I think Bridget is certainly capturing the people of this neighborhood while I'm focused more on the places.

- Tim and I both were really on the same kind of journey where we thought it was really important to document our community.

Abigail and Phil, they had just gotten married, not too long before we did the first one.

And then the second one, they had finished graduate school and we're starting to get on with their lives.

And now they're having a baby.

What I hope that people take away from the gallery show and the book is the resilience of our community and how special Collinwood is.

And I really want people to see that we banded together.

- As you just saw a photographer, Bridget Caswell, used the Homebody project to stay connected to her neighbors.

And for this week's question we wanna know how do you stay connected to your friends, family, and community?

Head online to tell us what you do to keep in touch with loved ones.

Now, last week we also asked what industry is your town known for?

And boy, did we learn a lot about some of the big businesses across the Buckeye State?

Let's open up our inbox.

(upbeat music) Harper from Jackson Center Local Schools in Jackson, Ohio starts us off.

There is something made in my town that's very well-known around the world, airstream campers.

They've been used in movies, music videos, and even space shuttle launches.

One time while camping in Michigan, someone from Alaska even recognized the name of my town on a shirt.

Bradford from Meadolawn Intermediate School tells us about his city's very well-known big business.

My town Sandusky, Ohio is known for my favorite place, Cedar Point Amusement Park, where their slogan is, Roller Coaster Capital of the World.

And they have the second tallest roller coaster, top thrill dragster at 420 feet.

Layla from St. Paul found a wheelie great business for us in Canton.

I live in Canton, Ohio, and actually Canton use to be famous for making tires.

And a fun fact is downtown, there's a rhino made of scrap tire.

Oh, look, she even sent in a picture for us.

Move over, Willy Wonka.

Patrick from Saint Angela Merici tells us about his towns sweet business.

Our town is known from Malley's chocolates.

It has amazing chocolate.

The owners live in my neighborhood.

They are very nice.

They hand out five full size candy bars at Halloween.

I hope they never shut down.

I hope I can trip or treat their next year.

Kennedy from Maryland Elementary, gets a little cheesy describing her town's business.

When you sit down with a hot, cheesy slice of Denatos delicious pizza, do you ever think about where it all started?

Denatos pizza was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1963.

The business was created by Jim Grote.

The company opened its first location in Zanesville, Ohio.

The business grew and now there are more than 150 locations around the globe.

Well, now you know that one of the most well-known pizza places originated in Columbus, Ohio.

Geez, that inbox kind of made me hungry.

I might have to pick up some pizza and some ice cream right after this.

But for now it's time to get back to the news.

If you've looked outside your window lately, you might've noticed a lot of that cold white stuff we get every year.

It's normal for Ohio to become a wintry wonderland.

But last week, old man, winter went a little overboard, sprinkling snow in states that don't normally see a lot of it, like Georgia and North Carolina.

We don't think the southerners enjoy the snow nearly as much as the river otters at the Akron zoo.

Staff caught them and some other creatures having some frosty fun last week.

Of course the snow leopard looks right at home.

If you didn't get enough of our animal friends enjoying the snow, head online we'll put a link to the full video from the Akron zoo, right under this episode.

It'll be a little bonus petting zoo, if it's all right with NewsCat.

Oh, it's all right, okay.

Another place that got its fair share of snow, Pennsylvania.

That's where a football coach thought up a cool way to get his players exercising and helping out their neighbors at the same time, Marcie Cipriani has a winter story that will warm your heart.

- These Bethel Park football players typically meet in the workout room at 9:00 AM when school is closed.

But their coach tells me on days like this, they take their workout to the neighborhood.

- This is thick.

- [Marcie] For Braden Del Duca.

- It was just nice to be out here, helping out the community.

- [Marcie] Colton Pfeuffer and all of their teammates, this is today's practice.

Their head football coach tweeted it, telling the players that their weightlifting workout has been canceled.

Instead they were to find an elderly or disabled neighbor and shovel their driveway.

He wrote don't accept any money, that's our Monday workout.

And they quickly did as coach Brian DeLallo said.

He tells me first thing this morning, his players were texting photos of each other clearing driveways one after another.

- It's great to see the kids buy in and get out there.

And you know, they'll shovel all morning and then hopefully they'll go sled riding in the afternoon and get to be kids.

- We do have to do it for everybody that we can.

- [Marcie] Del Duca a guard and tackle on the team says, this is their chance to thank the community for their support.

Something he and Pfeuffer a wide receiver and safety did together.

And they say, they realized just how much this workout change was helping everyone when they knocked on this homeowner's door.

- She was excited.

She like asked how much it was.

We said it was free of cost.

She was all excited and thankful for it.

It was just nice to see that.

- [Marcie] And that homeowner told the players she will pay it back by donating to the school's football program, adding to their lesson.

- It's about community.

We talk about it in our program all the time.

So this is another chance we have to go out and interact with our community in a positive way and show them that they're important to us.

- Thanks Marcie.

It is important to stay active in winter months, even when it's tempting to stay in it, hibernate.

Shoveling snow for neighbors or for your family, it's a great way to get out and do something good.

But even just playing outdoors is important for your health, but be sure to bundle up.

It's cold out there.

Now, speaking of cold, we've gotta Know Ohio that's shouldn't leave you with a brain freeze, up next we'll chill out as Mary tells us about Ohio's ice age.

(upbeat music) - There are many of us out there who might not exactly be fans of Ohio winter.

The cold, the ice, the snow, I get it.

But believe me when I tell you that the cold we experienced today is nothing compared to Ohio a couple million years ago.

It was the ice age, a period of worldwide cold temperatures, which transformed large portions of our planet including Ohio, into one big ice skating rink.

Beginning about 2.4 million years ago, massive sheets of ice called glaciers covered about three quarters of the Buckeye State.

Glaciers were actually formed by snow that had accumulated to the point where it is so thick that it hardens into ice.

But when you think of ice, you probably picture something very still.

but not these glaciers, they were on the move.

During the ice age, melting mile thick glaciers slip south from Canada into Ohio.

We know this because they left behind a trail.

Kelleys Island in Lake Erie has some of the best and biggest grooves left by glaciers.

And they're 400 feet long, 35 feet wide, and up to 15 feet deep.

As the glacier slid over the area, the soft limestone was scratched into shape.

Another magnificent gift these glaciers left behind are five great lakes.

That's right.

Our very own Lake Erie is just a really big melted glacier.

Sometimes when these glaciers were melting, chunks of ice would break off and melt into low areas of land.

These formed what are kettle lakes, like this one south of Columbus called Stage's Pond.

Okay, so the ice age is probably not the most comfortable period of Ohio history, but it is a time that shaped our State, literally.

(upbeat music) - Thanks, Mary.

You heard earlier about neighbors helping each other out in times of need.

And last week, one of our international neighbors needed some help.

So let's take a spin around the globe to the island nation of Tonga.

Malo e lelei, and welcome to the country of Tonga.

Often referred to as The Friendly Islands.

Tonga is made up of over 150 islands in the Southern Pacific ocean, But most Tongans live on the largest island Tongatapu, and that's where the Capitol Nuku'alofa is located.

Tonga is an archipelago.

An archipelago is a group of islands.

The archipelago of Tonga was formed from volcanic rock, but the same volcanoes that formed the islands, can also be very dangerous to its inhabitants.

As we discovered recently, when the Hunga Tonga volcano violently erupted, back on January 16th.

The volcano located underwater 40 miles from Tonga was disastrous for the archipelago.

And had far reaching effects on other countries in the Pacific ocean.

Even setting off tsunamis.

A tsunami is a giant wave caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions underwater.

Steve Ninas reports on the eruption.

- [Steve] A volatile volcano erupting underwater for the third time in four days near the island nation of Tonga in the south Pacific.

Australia's meteorological service, says a large eruption took place Monday, just two days after Saturday's eruption, which experts say was likely the biggest recorded anywhere on the planet in more than 30 years.

That eruption captured in real time.

These dramatic images from space showing the huge plume of ash, gas and steam spewed more than 12 miles into the atmosphere.

The earth shattering explosion sending tsunami waves, crashing across the Pacific, reaching the west coast of the U S, New Zealand and Japan and unleashing floods in Peru.

- Thank you Steve.

While the destruction to Tonga was devastating, several international neighbors are lending hands.

Japan, Australia, and New Zealand are assessing the damage and sending supplies.

Tongans living in the United States have also stepped up shipping water and mask to the islands.

The Honga Tonga volcano may have been underwater, but otherwise, it has a lot in common with it's above ground counterparts.

Up next, Margaret whizzes through a ton of volcano vocabulary and explains what exactly makes volcanoes so dangerous.

And here's a hint, it's not just the lava.

(upbeat music) - Anyone ever played the Flores Lava?

Always a fun time.

But when a real volcano explodes, it turns out there's a lot more to be afraid of than just lava on the ground.

Let's tart at the start.

There's hot molten rock beneath the earth surface called magma.

It can range in temperature from about 570 degrees Fahrenheit, which is actually how hot you might cook a pizza, all the way up to 1,600 degrees, which would basically incinerate your pizza.

So when enough magma builds up, it will push through the volcanoes conduit or main passageway and break through the vent or opening in the top or crater of a volcano.

Did you catch all those terms?

Conduit, vent, crater.

Good, 'cause this is where it gets interesting.

As soon as the magma reaches the earth surface, it's name changes to lava.

As if that weren't confusing enough, there are different types of lava, named based on how they flow from a volcano.

Pahoehoe Lave moves slowly and results in a smooth surface with rope like ridges.

Then there's AA Lava, that's kind of chunky and flows quickly, leaving a jagged surface behind.

Now, even though AA flows quicker than Pahoehoe, in most cases, it can still be out run and sometimes just out walked by humans.

What's harder to escape is a lava that flies instead of flows.

Lava that gets tossed into the sky is called a pyroclast.

And of course, pyroclast have their own categories too.

Tiny bits of lava makeup volcanic ash.

This is what you see billowing from the top of a volcano.

Ash is often mixed with poisonous gasses to form volcanic smog or vog.

It can be dangerous to breathe and can irritate your eyes.

Plus depending on the wind, it's difficult to escape.

This is not to be confused with laze.

The toxic haze that's released when lava hits the ocean.

This steamy mixture contains poisonous hydrochloric acid.

Bigger pyroclast called volcanic bombs or lava bombs are also super dangerous.

I'm sure you can figure out where the name comes from.

These sometimes boulder sized pieces of lava, can cause serious damage.

There are still even more types of lava and pyroclast but to keep your brain from spinning, we'll stick with those.

So yeah, lots of confusing terms, but we're talking about volcanoes and I'm okay with that.

- Thank you, Margaret.

From burning lava, we turn to a kid who's burning rubber.

During the pandemic a lot of people picked up new hobbies.

Some people learn to knit.

Some people learned to bake bread.

This week's A Plus award winner Huck Kerensky, a first grader at Normandy Elementary School in Bay Village, picked up a new hobby as well.

The only difference is his hobby is cheating gravity.

Huck learned BMX biking and along the way, he set a world record.

During the pandemic, Huck was trying to keep busy.

Like many of you, he rode his bike around the neighborhood.

While riding, he started jumping ramps that some of his neighbors had on the sidewalks.

He really was having a blast and started watching YouTube videos of BMX professionals, Huck's dad.

Mr. Krinski told us.

After watching videos of the pros, Huck decided that he could do flips and jumps bigger and bigger ramps.

This past summer Huck and his dad, went on a seven state road trip.

Visiting skate parks all across the Midwest to meet other BMX riders.

Huck was even invited to compete in the under 10-year-old National Finals, where he finished an amazing 15th, competing against riders three and four years older than him.

After the event, Huck became the youngest person ever to land up back flip on a BMX bike.

This all started as a healthy way to burn off energy.

I'm so proud of Huck for how well he's done in just a year of riding, Mr. Krinski told us.

He also said that Mr. Sebring, Huck's principal and Ms. Poretsky, Huck's teacher have been really supportive.

Huck isn't only a high flyer on his bicycle, he's also an exceptional student and like all of the subjects in school, especially Math.

And for those of you wondering, Huck learned how to ride a bike when he was three years old.

So let's all get together and congratulate Huck for winning this week's A Plus award for flying high on his bike and in the classroom.

Huck way to go.

Now from an exceptional student, we turn to an exceptional cat who always has a story for us.

It's time for Petting Zoo.

(upbeat music) (cat meows) NewsCat you're looking down, what's the matter?

Oh, are you upset that we stole your thunder with those Akron zoo animals earlier in the show?

Come on, I bet you got something better up your sleeve, I'm sorry, under your pow.

Oh!

Okay, this story really gets my goat.

NewsCat found a story about goats who are craving some holiday flavor.

To find out why these goats are munching up old Christmas trees, click the Petting Zoo button on our website.

Thank you, Newscat.

Now, you know, this real.

We wanna hear from you, not just me NewsCat too.

There are plenty of ways to stay in touch.

You can send a letter, we're at 1375 Euclid Avenue, that's Cleveland, Ohio.

Zip code right here, 44115.

You can email us at newsdepth@ideasstream.org, or you can tweet us, our handle is at news @NewsDepthOhio.

Thank you for joining us.

I'm Rick Jackson, we'll see you right back here next week.

Stay warm.

(upbeat music) - [little Child] News Depth is made possible by a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.

(upbeat music)