Author Spotlight
Campbell Wood
Sophie Henschel
Catherine Erickson
Chaos. If there’s one word to describe protests during a pandemic, isolated learning and the political unrest 2020 contained, it’s chaos. The “roaring 20s” roared in a different way this century when we battled what felt like a decade’s worth of events in 12 months.
As we move forward into 2021, the highly-anticipated ball drop locks in the fresh start we’ve all been craving. But before we abandon this year as a whole, let’s take one more moment to mull over everything we muddled through this year.
Australia’s familiar with bushfires — they call the dry months “bushfire season” for a reason. However, the 2019-20 bushfires went on record as the most devastating season Australia has ever experienced. While sweltering through a heatwave in December of 2019 that broke the record for the highest nationwide average temperature at around 115 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as the driest December on record, Australia began 2020 in flames.
Under these conditions, it took a few lightning strikes and other ignition incidents to unravel and burn down more than 28 million acres of land, incinerate 3,094 homes and kill over three billion animals. The bushfires dwindled down towards the end of March, but Australia is still recovering from the devastation of this event.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been vile for decades since the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1980, followed by the U.S. claiming Iran to be a “state sponsor of terrorism” under Reagan’s administration. And those tensions rose on Jan. 3 when President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike to assassinate Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani.
After the assassination, Iran retaliated by firing missiles at American troops in Iraqi bases and attempting to shoot down a U.S. aircraft. However, both attacks failed, as no American lives were lost and Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet instead, according to CNN. Tensions eventually cooled off to some degree when the U.S. stepped back and didn’t escalate the situation further. But this didn’t stop the first few weeks of 2020, which featured WWIII memes on social media as nuclear war conspiracies stirred around.
After being impeached by the House of Representatives in December of 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, President Donald Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached, following Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. However, in his impeachment trial that lasted from Jan. 16 to Feb. 5, Trump was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate, keeping him in office.
Every American heard the news that morning — Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant were killed in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, Calif on Jan. 26. As word of the deaths spread across America, it didn’t matter if you were a Lakers fan or even a basketball fan for that matter, everyone mourned the loss of the star athlete and role model.
As the list of catastrophes extended itself from Australia aflame, WWIII rumors, President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and now Kobe’s death — the joke of “and it’s only January” was no longer funny. January already felt like a whole year, but to our ignorance, it was only the beginning.
Bundled up in their warmest coats to combat the 30-degree weather, East teachers and students met by the flagpole every Tuesday before school from 7-7:20 a.m. to voice their objections on the SMSD-NEA contract negotiations.
Amidst the negotiations and controversy of the unilateral agreement, a loss of trust between teachers and the district emerged as teachers felt their demands weren’t being met, including a higher salary raise and five-period days instead of six. On Feb. 15, district teachers were given the choice to resign, stick with the current 2018-19 contract or sign with the new 2019-20 contract that provided up to a 1.5% increase in pay after three years.
After seeing headlines about COVID-19 spreading across China — all rooting from a bat that a woman consumed at a wet market — East students saw the coronavirus as a punchline whenever someone coughed, shouting, “Rona!” But one country’s problem soon became a pandemic as countries around the world were sent into lockdown.
On March 13, President Donald Trump declared a state of national emergency in response to the increasing COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Later, Johnson County issued a stay-at-home order effective on March 25, which was followed by Gov. Laura Kelly’s stay-at-home order for all of Kansas on March 30.
The coronavirus was by far the most notorious villain of the year, as it forced everyone to find ways to survive this pandemic physically and mentally. Toilet paper and hand sanitizer became valuable resources, board games and daily walks were our lifelines and Zoom calls and text messages were our only source of interaction — while lockdown may have lasted through May, the pandemic would continue to plague our year.
As the bell rang on March 13, students headed out to Cancún, Mexico and Seaside, Fla. for spring break, not knowing they wouldn’t walk back through the East doors until October — and for seniors, never again.
Four days later, Gov. Laura Kelly closed all K-12 school buildings for the rest of the semester, making Kansas the first state in the U.S. to cancel school due to COVID-19.
In this unchartered time of online learning, school basically became optional, as there was no schedule or guidelines that forced students to attend class. In fourth quarter, our grades could only go up, so those who already had their desired grades could let the quarter slide.
After announcing on Jan. 8 their plans to leave the Royal Family, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry officially resigned their titles and duties as the former Duke and Duchess of Sussex on April 1. They also announced how they plan to split their time between North America and the United Kingdom.
“I know people who were like, ‘It’s the royal family, why would they leave that? It’s such a great thing to be a part of.’ But it’s also very stressful and takes a lot out of you and I understand why they wanted to leave.”
Libby McShane, 10
Rumors circled the media that North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, was dead or brain dead following a cardiovascular procedure. Along with no public presence in over two weeks, rumors grew through social media and news outlets until they were put to rest when Kim was seen on May 1.
The first “murder hornets” were discovered in the U.S. in May in the state of Washington. These giant Asian hornets are notorious for wiping out entire colonies of honeybees, with the ability to kill an entire hive in just hours.
As their presence in the U.S. has gradually grown since then, it’s stoked fears that this could be detrimental to the already declining honeybee population in the U.S. Not only do they kill honeybees via decapitation, but they have two-inch stingers that can inject venom into their larger targets — killing up to 50 people annually in Japan.
On May 25, George Floyd, a black man accused of counterfeit, was murdered during his arrest when Minneapolis, Minn. police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Shortly after, a video of the homicide spiraled throughout the media bringing light to police brutality in America. With it came the question, “How many weren’t filmed?” — encouraging people to speak out against racial injustice in America.
The fight for equal rights and the Black Lives Matter Movement began long before 2020 rolled around, but that does not shadow the fact that this year served as a monumental spark to have uncomfortable conversations about the lack of equality in our society. Following the death of George Floyd and many other black citizens, protests ignited across the country in almost every major city in America.
As nationwide protests took place and “Black Lives Matter” was painted on streets, this summer served as a time to relearn how we treat people of color and the urgency of standing up in times of injustice.
After a four-year battle with colon cancer, beloved Hollywood actor Chadwick Boseman died at age 43. With his most well-known role being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as T’Challa, better known by his alter ego Black Panther, Boseman brought a new culture to the MCU while fighting on and off the screen.
But Black Panther wasn’t the only groundbreaking role Boseman played. He spent his career playing many biographical roles based on legends like Godfather of Soul James Brown, the first black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and the first black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
“Ever since the movie ’42’ — the movie about Jackie Robinson — came out, I always thought he was a great actor and inspiration…Not even so much his movies, but the impact that he made outside of his movies. If you look at the black community, I feel like they looked at Chadwick Boseman as someone who made it.”
Hassan Sufi, 10
With the election right around the corner, the death of 87-year-old Supreme Court Justice and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg raised questions on whether President Donald Trump would appoint a new justice.
Her death was caused by complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, and she passed away in her Washington D.C. home on Sept. 18. Ginsburg was yet another 2020 death that struck millions, as social media exploded with excerpts of her impact. In her 27 years as a Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg strived to shape a world of equality, with many accomplishments in advancing women’s rights.
It was reported that Ginsburg’s final wish was for the current Administration to not fill her seat so close to an election, spurring controversy when President Trump nominated her succeeder to be republican Amy Coney Barrett two months prior to the presidential election.
“Everything that she did for equality for women was just so remarkable and so admirable. It’s not like having any other role model die because she was so much more than that, she was basically the epitome of a badass woman.”
Caroline Kuhlman, 12
Succeeding Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett was sworn in as the 115th Supreme Court Justice and fifth female Supreme Court Justice on Oct. 27. With the controversy of President Donald Trump nominating Barrett one month after Ginsburg’s death, the subject served as one of the debate topics in the first presidential debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Trump.
President Donald Trump was up for reelection against former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden. With the highest voter turnout of all time, over 159 million Americans voted, 51.3% electing Biden, leading to his victory with 306 electoral votes.
After a campaign of personal attacks and muted-mic debates, no matter your political party, one can concur it was absolute mayhem. As if the year wasn’t hectic enough, a polarizing presidential election was the bow that tied it all together.
After 37 seasons of hosting the iconic game show “Jeopardy!”, Alex Trebek passed away at 80 years old after battling pancreatic cancer for 20 months.
“When quarantine first started, it was my lunch tradition with my mom to watch ‘Jeopardy!’ It was just a little fun activity to do during quarantine that just brightened up the first part of it. It was bittersweet watching with my mom to know that he had cancer but all the contestants would always say how they love him and appreciate him. Alex Trebek just makes ‘Jeopardy!’ what it is.”
Katherine Hamilton, 11
While Australia set records for their bushfire season, the Atlantic coast of the Americas set one for its highly active tropical storm season having 30 named storms — the most in a season to date. Tropical Storm Theta was the record-breaking 29th storm of the season forming on Nov. 10, followed by Category 5 Hurricane Iota as the 30th.
This was the second time that tropical storm names had to go into the Greek alphabet after running out of letters since 2005, which featured the notorious Hurricane Katrina.
A glimmer of hope we all needed as we vault into 2021: the COVID-19 vaccine. The first U.S. vaccinations, supplied by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, were given to health care workers on Dec. 14. Moderna’s vaccine also started being administered a week later. The FDA’s approval of two companies’ vaccines in under a year has made the COVID-19 vaccine the quickest vaccine to ever be developed.
“We do — depending on [a patient’s] symptoms — COVID tests and I won’t know until 24 hours later if I’m exposed to a patient…It’s just comforting — getting the vaccine — going into those rooms knowing I have that second line of protection.”
2018 East alum, Certified Nursing Assistant for Children’s Mercy and vaccine recipient Kate West
This year threw new challenges at us each month. From quarantining during this global pandemic to political tensions to devastating deaths of prominent figures, it seemed the year would never end. However, now that we’re approaching the new year, people are reflecting on how the time of isolation was an opportunity for personal growth. Here we share stories and reflections from members of the East community about their biggest challenges as well as how they grew through the events of 2020.
English teacher Meredith Sternberg is dedicating this semester to making her Canvas page less daunting. Although the ability to discuss literature has been stunted, she doesn’t believe that means online learning has to be confined to checkpoints and due dates.
“It’s my mission to get [students] comfortable with online learning platforms and show them you can do discussion on them, you can do thinking out loud on them,” Sternberg said. “That’s really caused me to grow as an educator, to really consider what I feel like is the most important part of the curriculum, and then focus on that.”
However, online learning has removed the personal connection that comes with a discussion based classroom like Sternberg’s. She finds that students have trouble deviating from and expanding on the book over WebEx.
“I love my job so much [because] we personally connect to the works of literature and to each other through the works of literature,” Sternberg said. “[During in-person] we’re all together in a room doing something as personal and as worthy as discussing literature, and watching each other process it and asking each other the bigger questions about it. You cannot do that on a screen on a laptop. And I think that it’s part of that’s really hard to do this way.”
When senior Libby Hise’s mom was assigned to work as a nurse on the COVID unit this summer, she had to accept that she wouldn’t be able to see her mom for a whole month. She and her family packed their bags and moved into their house on Lake Lotawana to avoid contracting the disease.
“It was really hard not having my mom around because we’re probably the closest in our family and she gives me a lot of advice,” Hise said. “We couldn’t give each other advice in the most confusing time. She wasn’t around when I needed her the most — and when she needed me.”
Three months after being separated from her family, Hise learned her senior year would look different as well. Years of watching her siblings go in and out of East made being named a Pep Club Executive more special for Hise — which also made it even more crushing when sports weren’t allowing a student section.
“My biggest challenge this year was just missing out on everything because I’m the youngest sibling out of four,” Hise said. “I got to see them go to all these basketball games, sitting in the front row, and I’m never going to be able to experience that.”
However, through political tension and the pandemic, Hise now feels prepared to make the most out of anything being thrown at her.
As soon as the district announced students would not return to school “until further notice” in March, senior Lily Utt called her doctor.
“Quarantine until we know for sure it’s safe to see other people.”
That was 10 months ago. Since then, Utt has seen three people, other than her dog of course. Due to Utt’s Common Variable Immunodeficiency and severe asthma, contracting COVID would be life threatening.
“It’s really hard for me when I’m seeing the decisions that the district is making and when I’m watching the decisions of other people that I know on social media,” Utt said. “Seeing people hanging out without masks and having parties right now basically symbolizes another month of my life that I’m going to lose just having to sit inside waiting.”
After months of being locked in her house, Utt is struggling to find activities to break apart the days and stay motivated.
“In March and April, it was like, I can clean out my closet, I can play board games,” Utt said. “But at this point, I’ve cleaned every closet, I’ve played every board game. You run out of things to do that are exciting. Especially being a senior dealing with college applications and school and everything else it’s just really hard to want to do that when every day is just nothingness. It’s hard to stay motivated. It’s hard to stay, just like happy.”
However, Utt is proud of her impact and contribution to flattening the curve, no matter how hard every day is.
“There’s thousands of people dying every day from this, and I’m proud of myself for making the decision to save those lives,” Utt said. “If I can just think that my choices over the past 10 months have made it so that families can stay together, so people can enjoy more time with their loved ones in the future, then I’m proud of myself for that and I’m proud of the other people that have done that too.”
Senior Paige Good made the most out of her time in isolation by working on herself. She took inspiration from her Tik Tok addiction to get into a new activity — makeup and fashion.
“I had a lot of time where I just didn’t have a lot of responsibilities, so I tried to make myself get into a few hobbies,” Good said. “One of the things was learning how to do makeup — which, you know, I’m still trying my best. But it was a creative outlet to express myself. I also watch a lot of fashion and makeup videos on Tik Tok, so I’ve kind of been taking inspiration from that.”
In addition to a new hobby, quarantine gave her the chance to reflect on the people she was letting into her life — whether they were bringing positivity or negativity.
“By spending more time by myself I could reflect on everything that I’ve been consuming from other people,” Good said. “I feel like I’ve been influenced by other people and not knowing that those friendships or dynamics were unhealthy for me. Having that time to myself, I got to see who I really need in my life.”
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