Editor’s note: Laura McGee, principal of Hilltop Country Day School in Sparta, and English teacher Sarah Weeks shared the the results of a writing assignment, “My Very Strange Year.” The student writers are middle schoolers (grades 5-8).
In the Sunday, December 27th edition of The New York Times for Kids, editor Amber Williams highlighted healthy ways for younger readers to process everything that happened in 2020. One part, titled “My Very Strange Year,” featured a recap that touched on everything from the pandemic’s effect on schools to the emergence of Baby Yoda as a pop culture icon.
Perhaps most importantly, though, Williams’s year in review included many places to fill in the blanks with personalized details, emotions, and thoughts.
Upper School students were given a slightly adapted copy to complete in English class on their first day back to school after the winter break, January 4. Below are some of the highlights (students’ words in italics). Happy New Year!
● If I had to describe 2020 in just one word, it would be..
Cantankerous
● If I could go back and give my January self one piece of advice, I would say...
Invest in toilet paper
● 2020 was difficult for everyone. My emotions ranged all the way from...
Depressed to Feelin’ funky
● I learned a lot about my family, including...
My mom cleans a lot, and my cats are weird.
● From the widespread protests, I learned that...
The world still does not agree.
● There were some things that I liked about it, like...
Never having to go anywhere.
● But I also missed...
Going places...does that make sense?
● I got used to wearing (a facemask) pretty quickly...
Y ✔ / N__
● And I’ll always remember the best mask I ever saw was one of...
Kevin from “Home Alone” with a screaming mouth and his hands on his cheeks just like the part with the aftershave.
● People got creative when they had to stay at home. I got creative, too, and did these three things for fun...
Made baked goods, gave online tours of my barn, and took care of my chicks.
● The hardest part of staying mostly indoors was...
The lack of social contact because I really like talking to people face-to-face.
● When towns and cities started reopening, the first thing I did was...
Get a haircut.