The year 2020 through the eyes of kids

“What I would tell them is that even though it was COVID-19, you could still go to school. It was hard, but we did it. Also, we got good grades, too!" - Destiny Tarrant, sixth grade, Kearns-St. Ann School

 

“When I am 80 (if I make it to 80), I will tell the grim story of 2020 school. I would tell them about the masks. I will tell them about the social distancing. But the thing I will tell is how it brought us together. It brought us closer to our community (despite being online most of the time). I will tell them in many ways it did good for us." - Jude Payne, sixth grade, The Madeleine Choir School

 

“I remember we can’t see a lot of people. We go online for school. We wash our hands and COVID-19 started. I got a new puppy named Jupiter. I learned to ride a bike. I learned to play a new video game." - Simon Z., first grade, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School 

 

“When I am 80 years old, what I would tell someone about 2020 is that it wasn’t a great year because there was a pandemic of coronavirus and a lot of people got sick and even killed. Some people got quarantined and had to stay away from the outside and had to stay inside. It wasn’t that good because a lot of people, we’d have to wear masks, and you had to stay 6 feet away from people and always wash your hands – well, that’s still good because you’ve got to wash your hands!" - Nyanbol Yak, sixth grade, St. Francis Xavier Catholic School 

 

“When I am 80 years old, I would tell my kids that ‘Back in my day you had to wrestle someone just to get one roll of toilet paper.’ Just kidding. I would tell them about all of the important yet horrible twists and turns of 2020. I would tell them about the coronavirus, the earthquake, the windstorm, and the fires in Australia. I would tell them how everywhere you went you had to wear a mask. And how every time you went to bed, you were scared that you would get the  coronavirus. 2020 was a rough year, but we did our best and pushed past 2020. I hope that 2021 will be a much better year." - Vincent Hildebrand, fifth grade, J.E. Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School 

 

“When I am 80 years old I will tell kids that 2020 was a hard year but we all got through it together even if we were 6 feet apart. It started like any other year but in March we started online school, which is now my least-favorite kind of school. Then summer happened and it felt really short. Then it was back to school. At first nobody knew what was going on, but I had a great year. Overall, the worst thing that happened was wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart; you couldn’t even see your friends! I think 2020 was a lesson that America and the whole world can do hard things and even though we’re apart we were really together." - Caelum Self, fifth grade, St. John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School 

 

“Everything stopped. I was scared when my parents told me it was a virus that could make us sick. Imagine being told you can’t leave your house. No school, no church, nor fun after-school activities. No friends, no cousins, no grandparents. As the virus was spreading, there was a presidential election going on that seemed to make all the adults go crazy. Then an earthquake happened that shook us right up. I was scared, but there were some positives about 2020, too. When the earthquake happened I might have been at a friend’s house, but because of the virus I was home, safe with family. 2020 is definitely a year I’ll never forget." - Sophie Yates, sixth grade, St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School 

 

“It wasn’t terrible because you got new experiences, but it wasn’t good because you were away from people. It gave me a lot of time to think about what is important to me. It was scary, uncertain; you didn’t know what would happen. You have to keep going because God has a plan for you." Student Council President Maddie Shragge, seventh grade, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School