Since January of 2022, citizens of China have been forced to live under atrocious conditions. China’s zero-COVID policies have caused whole buildings to be put under lockdown where citizens are essentially prisoners struggling to obtain food and medicine. While most countries are removing mask and distance mandates, finally getting a break from the pandemic, China […]

Within the last few months the pandemic has worsened and the price of masks has gone up. The Omicron variant has rendered cloth masks less effective. Businesses have taken advantage of the new demand by gouging the price of more effective masks since the very beginning of the pandemic. While the problem is mainly in […]

By: Owen Chavez Students benefit greatly from in person learning and returning to school has been nice for us so far. In order to maintain in school learning at the ASK Academy covid needs to be as contained as possible. The NMPED (New Mexico Public Education Department) has guidelines to make returning to school as […]

By: Ben Spradlin It’s no secret that COVID had a negative effect on New Mexico, or anywhere for that matter. Thousands of New Mexicans died,  lost their jobs, and many profitable businesses went out of business. The big question is: How has the economy’s recovery plan been affected while we have been reopening and getting […]

By: Liliana Chavez This year’s 7th graders skipped a year! 2020, 6th graders participated in online schooling for their first middle school year. These ASK Scholars unfortunately missed out in many 6th grade learning activities and socialization with new people.  This year’s 7th grade scholars are getting the full experience of middle school for the […]

Warning: This article mentions mental illness, self-harm and suicide By Peyton Perez Although social distancing is helping to save many lives by slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, it will likely leave long-lasting effects on the adolescents who are involved in it. According to The Lancet, adolescence is a very vital time in a […]

By Degan Baca At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, all sports were canceled, including the NBA. But with the cancellation of sports, it gave the league time to change certain rules. A notable rule is that players on the bench must be wearing a mask and stay 6-feet apart at all times. This rule […]

By Shayanne Spell Music fills the room as scholars walk in to the dimly lit commons. The night is filled with fun music, talking, laughing, dancing, or all three. It’s part of the high school experience and over the years ASK scholars have worked to incorporate after-school events into the school year. Unfortunately, because of […]

By Leah Morales With new Covid-19 cases arising daily in this state, The Catalyst sat down with Julie and Mike Littlefield, whose children are scholars at The ASK Academy. Mike Littlefield is a medical unit director at UNM Sandoval Medical Center and oversees the Covid unit. His wife, Julie, is a veteran nurse who works […]

By Peyton Perez Scholars  have different opinions about the isolation that has been caused by COVID-19. One thing that students can agree upon, is that their mental health and everyday lives have been severely changed and affected.  An anonymous survey conducted by Kylee Shurter, a counselor at The ASK Academy, showed that scholars at The […]