Odessa, Part 1: The School Year Begins

Odessa, Part 1: The School Year Begins

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Part 1: The School Year Begins
Odessa

Odessa is a four-part audio documentary series about one West Texas high school reopening during the pandemic — and the teachers, students and nurses affected in the process.For the past six months, The New York Times has documented students’ return to class at Odessa High School ...  Show more

Part 2: Friday Night Lights
Odessa

In 1988, a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, was so good that it became the inspiration for a book, movie and, eventually, the television series “Friday Night Lights.” And in the decades since, as West Texas has weathered the unsettling undulations of the oil industry, ...  Show more

Part 3: The Band Bus Quarantine
Odessa

Last fall, as Odessa High School brought some students back to campus with hybrid instruction, school officials insisted mask wearing, social distancing and campus contact tracing would keep students and faculty safe. And at the beginning of the semester, things seemed to be goin ...  Show more

Part 4: Wellness Check
Odessa

This episode contains references to mental health challenges, including eating disorders.Joanna Lopez, the high school senior we met in our first episode of Odessa, has turned inward: staying in her bedroom, ghosting friends and avoiding band practice. But playing with the marchi ...  Show more