Cartoonist pictures the pandemic through the eyes of middle-schoolers

Tim Campbell created a cartoon-based project to give middle-schoolers a voice during the coronavirus pandemic.

By Christina Barron, — Aubreyona Miller, 14, — Courtney Pagaja, 13, — Gabrielle Johnson, — Kallen Merriweather, — Abigail Catlin and — Savannah Britting,

Illustration by Tim Campbell

Editorial cartoonist Tim Campbell collaborated with students at an Indiana junior high about how their lives were during the pandemic. Gabrielle Johnson, 14, responded: “One time my friend accidentally had her mike unmuted and started singing and everyone could hear her in class, it was really funny to watch.”

Tim Campbell helps newspaper readers think about issues of the day through his drawings. He’s an editorial cartoonist, and his cartoons are often about politics, social justice, sports and, in the past year, the coronavirus pandemic.

As distance learning stretched into months, Campbell began thinking about how students were handling the pandemic. He contacted Cindy Baney, who had taught music to his kids when they were in elementary school. Baney had become a middle school teacher, and the two realized that middle-schoolers would be the ideal group to share their perspectives.

“They know what normal is,” Campbell told KidsPost from his home in Carmel, Indiana. “But they also don’t have the freedom that high school students do,” including the ability to drive to see friends.

Baney coordinated with Fishers Junior High Principal Crystal Thorpe to ask students to answer four questions:

●“What do you wish people knew about school during covid?”

●“What is the hardest thing for you to deal with right now?”

●“Share a personal story about the good, bad or ugly side of learning during the pandemic.”

●“Share an observation or funny story about school during the pandemic.”

Campbell received nearly 800 responses, and from them he created a four-part series called “Covid Reflections From the Unmuted Middle.” Many of the responses, which didn’t include students’ names, were troubling.

“Probably the thing that bothered me most was how often the word ‘stress’ was being used by these 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds,” he said. “On the positive side, it was inspiring to read so many responses where the students were looking on the bright side of dealing with the pandemic. Spending more time with family, appreciating the efforts of their teachers and navigating new ways to still be kids and bond with their friends.”

We’ve included a sampling of the funny moments students shared with Campbell and his drawings — four of which he created just for KidsPost. (The students’ families agreed that their names could be used.) Scroll down for all four parts of Campbell’s “From the Unmuted Middle” project.

Illustration by Tim Campbell

“One time in choir we were showing our pets and this kid pulled his fish out of the water.”

— Savannah Britting, 14

Illustration by Tim Campbell

“One time I baked a cake during English Class.”

— Abigail Catlin, 13

Illustration by Tim Campbell

“I fell out of my bed while I was trying to turn on my lights in zoom class.” — Aubreyona Miller, 14

Illustration by Tim Campbell

“I was in a Zoom and someone was asleep in their bed with their camera on. They woke up later and left.” — Kallen Merriweather, 13

Illustration by Tim Campbell

“My cats scratch under my iPad thinking someone’s under it because of the teachers voice.”

— Courtney Pagaja, 13

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