Navajo school, students fight to overcome amid COVID-19

Pinon High School science teacher James Gustafson teaches virtually from his empty classroom in Pinon, Ariz., on Sept. 24, 2020. Unlike their students, the school's teachers report to campus each day, careful to wear masks and keep space between them. (Megan Marples/Cronkite News via AP)

The Begaye sisters do their schoolwork at their home in Blue Gap, Ariz., on Sept. 24, 2020. Shown from left are high school senior Chenoa, fourth-grader Sonora, first-grader Annabah and second-grader Winona. On the Navajo Nation, a high school senior spends six hours most days doing homework in a car next to a school bus turned Wi-Fi hotspot. It's the only way to get assignments to teachers. COVID-19 has brought one of the greatest challenges yet to these students. (Megan Marples/Cronkite News via AP)

Dekoven Begay watches his children, who go by the last name Begaye, play in front of their home in Blue Gap, Ariz., on Sept. 24, 2020. Every day for the past six months, the family of six has been home together. (Megan Marples/Cronkite News via AP)

A sign encourages social distancing outside the Blue Gap Mini Store in Blue Gap, Ariz., on Sept. 24, 2020. As COVID-19 swept through the Navajo Nation, signs telling people to socially distance began appearing around the reservation. (Megan Marples/Cronkite News via AP)

The pandemic has forced students at Piñon High School to attend school virtually, leaving vacant the once-bustling cafeteria, shown in Pinon, Ariz., on Sept. 24, 2020. (Megan Marples/Cronkite News via AP)

Second-grader Winona Begaye uploads homework in her family's vehicle in a dirt lot near Blue Gap, Ariz., on Sept. 25, 2020. Navajo Nation schools have remained virtual this fall because it's too dangerous to reopen their doors. To help families with no internet or poor access get online, the Piñon Unified School District outfitted school buses with Wi-Fi. (Megan Marples/Cronkite News via AP)

The sun rises over the Navajo Nation Reservation on Sept. 24, 2020, near Pinon, Ariz. The COVID-19 death rate on the reservation, the size of West Virginia, has been greater than that of any U.S. state. (Megan Marples/Cronkite News via AP)