Hometown, Alaska Alaska Public Media

Former high school seniors Kayden King, Shaun Peter, and Thomas Phelan in Bethel. (Katie Basile/KYUK)On this week’s Hometown Alaska, Anchorage teens describe how they have suffered, endured, and even grown through living under the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll hear from teens at the Alaska Teen Media Institute, Covenant House and MHATS, which stands for Mental Health Advocacy Through Storytelling, a student-founded and student-run non-profit in Anchorage.ATMI students began creating a series called “Podcast in Place, Youth Stories from Quarantine” recorded in their own homes due to constraints under COVID. Topics include individual student reactions to school closings and uncertainty, to interviews with Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, and a multi-generational family interview (grandparents, their daughter and their grandchildren) about coping with vaccination information and commitment.Two Covenant House students talk about the emotional impact of isolation, and the loss of work due to restaurant cl