So many deaths of Black people at the hands of police in the U.S. Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor — heartbreakingly, that's just a subset of names. But now, the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, captured on video as he said repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe while a kneeling police officer pinned him to the ground, has sparked a new level of outrage that’s propelled people across the country to take to the streets. For Black teens in

In normal times, parent teacher student associations fundraise to pay for things like field trips, school supplies, or sometimes, extra school staff. But these are not normal times. Now with so many people out of work, some of these parent groups have shifted into trying to help families cover basic needs, including rent or bills.

Community groups and the Tacoma school district have been trying in recent years to help more high school students pursue college degrees. But now there’s concern that students will push off college plans because of the pandemic. So three nonprofit groups and Tacoma Public Schools have worked together to survey high school seniors to connect and find out their needs.

In recent years, students experiencing homelessness or housing instability in Washington have numbered in the tens of thousands. A new survey shows that many of those students are struggling with basic needs amid the pandemic.

February was a high point for Olawumi Olaniyan. The 12-year-old seventh grader from Heatherwood Middle School in Mill Creek had traveled with her recreational cheerleading team, the Bruins Elite, to Anaheim, California, for nationals. The girls accomplished what they’d always dreamed of — winning first place. Then came the coronavirus pandemic, bringing an abrupt close to her cheerleading’s parade season, just as it truncated seasons for so many other young athletes. But Olawumi has found a way

The coronavirus may have shut down schools, but it hasn’t put a stop to student creativity. School concerts and plays have been canceled, but there’s been a burst of ingenuity online, especially from musically skilled students. Drama students at Shorecrest High School in Shoreline were in the midst of rehearsing the musical "Les Misérables" when they got word that school was closing, scuttling the performance they all had been looking forward to.

The statewide school closure to slow the spread of the coronavirus has brought tremendous upheaval to families. Parents are trying to help their children keep up with assignments from home, while many of them juggle work responsibilities or cope with financial stresses stemming from unemployment. Added to that is a continued lack of internet access for many families that the state and school districts are trying to address — even now, two months after schools were ordered to shut down.

More than 800,000 people in Washington have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic. There also have been some fraudulent claims submitted. Some school district employees, including in the Seattle, Tacoma and Bellevue districts, have discovered that fraudulent claims were filed in their names.

“My happiest quarantine memory is beating the crap out of a piñata.” That vivid opening line comes from Barrett Stowe, a 16-year-old sophomore at Tacoma School of the Arts. He contributed a story about his moment of joy amid the pandemic for KNKX’s Take the Mic youth voices project.

Colleges and universities are conducting classes online right now to limit the spread of the coronavirus. They're also trying to plan for the fall. University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce said the plan is to return to in-person instruction in the fall quarter. That comes after Washington State University President Kirk Schulz said WSU also will resume in-person instruction in the fall. But Cauce said it will be a “new normal.”