2020 was a year that dragged on and on, but was also over surprisingly quick. Definitely a year nobody will forget…so here’s a recap! 

January

The wildfires of Australia began and lit up the sky for a total of 79 days. The fires are claimed to have begun by a combination of lightning strikes and arson. Along with the upsetting news of Australia, famous basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, died in a tragic helicopter crash Jan. 26.  A devastating start to 2020 for sure.  Mr. MHS was also in January and 2020 senior Journey Winkle was crowned the winner. 

February 

In February of 2020, the first American citizen died of Covid-19 – the start to hundreds of thousands of deaths by Covid-19 in America. Additionally, the Boy Scouts of America who have served America for decades, filed for bankruptcy in February. The Martin Warrior basketball teams also played in the playoffs on Feb. 25. 

March:

Of all months, March was the most memorable for Martin Warriors. What started out as an extended Spring Break, turned into the world going into global lockdown, resulting in school buildings shutting down for the rest of the year. Because of this, online school began and is still continued now. Martin Baseball also played its last game of the season.  Little did we know this was just the beginning of Covid-19. 

April:

In April the state and school district kept saying we would come back. The first time we were supposed to return was March 31. Then April 13. Then eventually they shut it down altogether leaving us all quarantined. Because everyone was quarantined, nothing exciting happened except for a lot of new TikTok dances to keep everyone occupied.

May:

May started out well considering the world was still quarantined and it was 2020. Murder hornets were spotted in the US for the first time striking even more panic. Things calmed down after a while and peace was still intact – until May 25 when George Floyd died of police brutality. Protests began in Minneapolis but quickly spread all over the country. People still stayed socially distanced to a degree but got their message across to the world. Everywhere people were protesting and speaking their opinions. May also contained the last day of school for Martin.

June:

Protests continued and spread to other countries including Australia and several European countries. The protest continued to spread awareness for Black Lives Matter safely. And the class of 2020 was able to have a graduation ceremony June 6 at AT&T stadium, a first for Martin students.

July:

Not too much happened in July. Covid-19  was still very present and quarantining was still encouraged. In July the first signs of a vaccine were spread to the world. 163 Covid vaccines were in development but only a few had made it to Phase 3. 

August:

School is back in session all online. Nobody is allowed on campus.  The Apple Fire happened in California and spread over 20,000 acres. Only five percent of the fire was contained for over 24 hours. Soon after California also entered a state of emergency because of increasing Covid numbers. 

September:

Covid-19 has killed over 1 million people worldwide. The Black Lives Matter protests enter their 100th night of protests. President Trump and Joe Biden have their first political publicly viewed debate for the election of 2020. September 28 was the first day students and teachers are now allowed on campus by a hybrid schedule for classes.

October:

President Trump tested positive for Covid-19. Martin also had its Homecoming. We played the Arlington Colts on Homecoming for the first time in 20 years. Homecoming traditions remained just a little differently than normal. Mums and garters were still around but most people just wore them to the game. We still had a Homecoming king and queen (seniors Anthony Washington and Autumn Smith) and a parking lot parade.

November:

Going into November, everyone knew it was going to be a crazy month because of the election. The election of 2020 began on Nov. 3 but the controversy went on for about another two months. Joe Biden won the election of 2020. Aside from politics, our Lady Warrior volleyball team won the regional playoffs against Nimitz High school 3-0. And the popular social media app TikTok was supposedly going to be banned leaving influencers afraid their jobs would be taken away.

 
December:

The battle of the election continued until Dec. 14 when the electoral college met and voted Joe Biden as President of the United States. Martin Show Choir wasn’t able to do their Holiday Tour or Dinner Theatre, so to compromise, they made their Holiday Tour Virtual for all to see. A video of the socially distanced and masked singers and dancers was sent to all of the elementary school and posted on YouTube. Another classic tradition modified for this crazy year. 

Hindsight was 2020 for sure. As we move on to 2021 we hope for a better year with healthier and safer ways to go out in public and return to a normal society. Things will definitely be different but hey, if we can survive 2020, is there anything we can’t do?