TeentracksCovid- 19 cases in US schools
Boy, 15, creates website to help parents, students
When William Wu’s older sister left for her freshman year, the 15- year- old from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts noticed that his mother spent a good amount of time looking at the university’s Covid- 19 dashboard. The numbers, big or small, gave her some peace of mind.
Wu wondered if similar information was available for public high schools. He figured if he could organise themall in one place it would be a valuable resource for students and parents across the country.
Ready reckoner
“I wanted to get the data out there andmake the site a stable source of information,” he said.
Early on, he wasn’t able to collect much. Many states didn’t respond to his queries or weren’t ready to make the information available. But by mid-September, more dashboard sand Excel sheets became available and Wu began to put the numbers in one place.
His website now features case numbers for 28 states, mostly for K- 12 schools. For six states, Wu has the number for K- 12 schools and public colleges.
Each state has its own page describing its criteria for inclusion.
“Numbers are better than nothing,” Wu said. “If you really sit down and think about them, sometimes you can get a sense of what they truly mean.”
Since launching thewebsite, hehas received helpful tips and encouraging feedback from a number of visitors.
“[ This site] helped me to realise how much I can actually do,” he said. “And it showed me how much potential each person has to make an impact and affect the world in a positive way.”