The Samohi’s Year in Review
Aili Forster, Staff Writer
From the vaccine rollout to the Capitol insurrection, 2021 has been one for the books. As COVID-19 cases declined, many Samo students were able to experience in-person learning and a sense of normalcy after over a year in lockdown. Current events have influenced every part of students’ life, especially during this unpredictable year. These are some of the most influential news stories of 2021.
Jan. 6 Insurrection
The new year started out with a shocking riot at the White House in Washington DC. The riot followed after President Donald Trump made a speech near the Capitol, encouraging his supporters to head to the Capitol to contest the election results. Thousands of supporters headed to the Capitol, waving confederate flags. The attack resulted in five deaths and hundreds of arrests.
Presidential Inauguration
Only two weeks after the Capitol riot, the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was held at the Capitol. The inauguration was celebrated with Amanda Gorman’s poem, “The Hill We Climb”. Many also noticed that Trump did not attend the ceremony, the first president to do so in over 150 years. In the ceremony, Biden spoke about democracy and uniting the country in order to end the country’s “uncivil war.”
Adam Fagen / Contributor
Asian Hate Crimes
Following last year’s Black Lives Matter movement, the movement was a result of an uprise in discrimination against Asian people mostly due to COVID-19, but was largely sparked after eight people were shot in an Atlanta spa, six of whom were Asian. The movement “Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate (AAPI),” started many rallies and protests across the U.S.
Newsom Recall
The recall on Newsom had been a threat since 2020, but became more serious in June of 2021, when the deadline for the recall petition passed, confirming there would be a recall election. However, in October of 2021, results of the Newsom recall election came out, showing a majority of 61.9 percent of voters were against replacing California governor Gavin Newsom.
Gage Skidmore / Contributor
Ever Given
In March, one of the world’s largest container ships, “Ever Given”, made the news after getting stuck in the Suez canal for six days.
Britney Spears
In November, pop-star Brittney Spears’ 13-year conservatorship ended after being under the control of her father since 2008. The case was anxiously followed by the public and many used the hashtag “FreeBrittney” in support of Spears.
britneyspears.com / Contributor
Vaccine roll out
At the beginning of 2021, the COVID-19 vaccines, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson Johnson and AstraZeneca started becoming available for front-line workers as well as the elderly. Now, the Pfizer vaccine is available for people ages five and over and the CDC recommends a booster shot for anyone over the age of 18. According to the LA Times, around 66 percent of county residents in Los Angeles are fully vaccinated currently.
COVID-19 variants
While COVID-19 cases decreased dramatically in the first half of 2021, cases are rising again. This is partially due to travel restrictions being lifted and international borders opening up again, but also due to new COVID-19 variants. According to the New York Times, the Delta variant was first identified in the U.S. in March and is now accountable for more than 80 percent of COVID-19 cases. A newly identified variant named Omicron was first found in Africa and is now spreading across the world. Though not much information is known about the new variant yet, many are predicting it to be more contaminable than the Delta variant.
In-person Learning
Due to the vaccine rollout and case decline, many schools in the U.S. have been able to reopen for in-person learning, following more than a year of distance learning, including Samo. Students were first able to come back to campus in the ending months of last school year, with some students still at home doing distance learning over Zoom. However, the students were split into groups to avoid having all students on campus at once. This school year, all students are back on campus at the same time.
Summer Olympics
This summer, the Olympics, held every four years, took place in Tokyo, Japan and were the highlight of the summer. The summer games were postponed by a year in 2020 due to COVID-19 but were able to happen in 2021. In total, the USA teams racked in 39 gold medals, winning the most in swimming, athletics, wrestling and shooting.
Death of Prince Phillip
Husband of Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip, passed away earlier this year in April at age 99. While the cause of his death is unclear, the Queen and Duke had been married for over 70 years and had been together for more than 60 years of the Queen’s reign.
Freezing Texas
In February of 2021, the state of Texas, had a widespread electricity failure after natural gas pipelines froze due to the extremely low temperatures. Many went without power or water for weeks.
Donald Trump Twitter ban
Following the Jan. 6 capitol riot, Twitter suspended Donald Trump’s account due to “Risk of further incitement of violence”. This decision came as a shock to many as Trump had been using Twitter for years to make announcements and attack rivals.
Derek Chauvin Case
After the global “Black Lives Matter” movement, Derek Chauvin’s, the former police officer responsible for the death of George Floyd, was finally sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.
International travel
After one and half years of having a travel ban, due to COVID-19, the U.S. opened up international borders again for any fully vaccinated travelers. This allowed families who have been separated for over a year to reunite and allowed tourists to travel again.
US troops leave Afghanistan
In August, the U.S. pulled all of their troops out of Afghanistan, ending a 20-year long war. This left Afghanistan in the Taliban’s hands, and left at least 100,000 people who might have been eligible for U.S. visas.
Texas Abortion law
The Texas abortion law, passed in Sept., bans women from getting abortions after as early as six weeks, when many women do not know they are pregnant yet.
Adam Fagen / Contributor
Michigan School Shooting
According to the Washington Post, 2021 marked the most school shootings since 1999. The last school shooting was in Michigan, when a 15-year old student shot and killed four people, and injured seven.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court discussed a 2018 Mississippi case that made abortions illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which goes against the decision made in the Roe v. Wade case, which allowed abortions for up to 23 weeks of pregnancy.
Discovery opening
After four years of construction, the Discovery Building, located near the Innovation Quad is finally completed. This is the first school year the building is being used, and there are many new features for students to enjoy. The inside offers many study spaces outside of classrooms and the building also has a rooftop with solar panels.
Sydney Roker / The Samohi
SMMUSD splitting
In April of 2021, a public hearing was held over Zoom, where the city of Malibu argued their case for separating SMMUSD into two districts. This puts Santa Monica schools at risk, as more property taxes that fund the districts, would be going to Malibu schools.
Historic Belmar Park Opening
The historic Belmar park opened in february of 2021. The former parking lot was transformed into soccer fields, where the Samo soccer and lacrosse teams now train, after years of training at Jams.