From natural disasters like the Australian wildfires to severe economic and political upheaval, 2020 news has primarily been dominated with grief and chaos. Considering that the defining aspects of the year consist of a global pandemic, presidential impeachment, a racial movement for justice, and a monumental presidential election, the year has felt surreal and exhausting to most. While this unprecedented series of events has posed commotion across the globe, it is imperative that we don’t let it tarnish all existing hope and positivity. To end this more-than- memorable year on a good note, here is our pick of the Top 10 positive news stories from 2020.

1.Virtual learning has been a significant change for students, however, it also is a substantial setback for teachers. In March 2020, teachers had to quickly change their classrooms from in-person to remote in a matter of days. Now, with the virtual school year, teachers are trying their hardest to create an interactive classroom while students attend virtually. A group of students from The College of New Jersey decided to show their appreciation for their statistics professor by surprising him with ‘Thank You’ posters on Zoom. One student, Katherine De Oliveira, texted her classmates and told everyone to come prepared to class with a Thank you poster. When Professor Shrager asked why everyone’s camera was off, the students held up their posters, moving Shrager to tears. Students recorded his reaction and posted it on TikTok where it got over five million views. Students of Shrager’s class said that he was always trying to make class interesting, despite the lack of human contact. Shrager told TODAY that “It’s been the toughest semester of my teaching career, but somehow we got through it. For it to end like this is genuinely beautiful and pretty crazy.” 

 2.Due to the pandemic, Broadway theatres, and performance venues all around the world have closed down. So, musical theatre lovers have burnt off pent up creativity by making TikToks. On January 1, the TikTok musical version of “Ratatouille” will make its debut.  Random TikTok users made original songs, dances, set designs, makeup, puppets, and Playbill programs around the 2007 Disney film, “Ratatouille.” The Disney film is about a rat that has a dream of becoming a French chef. Without any help from a director, crew, choreographer, the performance will be unlike any show on Broadway. It came together organically on TikTok, where users have only a minute to catch people’s attention.  Disney has become more tolerant of fan appropriation, weighing the public relations risk of shutting down endeavors like this against a loss of control over its characters.“ Although we do not have development plans for the title, we love when our fans engage with Disney stories,” Disney said in a statement. “We applaud and thank all of the online theater-makers for helping to benefit the Actors Fund in this unprecedented time of need.”

3, Even though Covid 19 had ruined the majority of this year, people have found ways to make the year a little better. One of those ways was to help each other by paying for other people’s food. According to GMA and Thrillist, there has been an event where 900 people paid for the person behind them and it resulted in the event to take around two and a half days. The event took place in a Dairy Queen in Brainerd, Minnesota, and it started on the 3rd of December and ended on the 5th of December. The workers said that in the past they had around 20 or so cars pay for the person in front but the number had never gotten as high as 900. The good thing about this event is that it shows the empathy and friendliness people have inside them and how people use that in desperate times such as this.

4.Our world is always doing things that only better themselves and their own businesses and not looking out for the animals. The Oil Drilling Project in Alaska started roughly around 2 years ago. It was harming polar bears and where they lived. Imagine someone one day just coming to knock your house down and have nowhere else to go. That’s what this project was doing to the polar bears. After going through the process to get this project passed, the court disapproved. The oil and gasoline from this project could not only destroy their homes but also kill polar bears due to those chemicals being unsafe for their bodies if they were to inhale or inject anything. “The presence of some of these animals, including polar bears which are listed as ‘vulnerable’, means that the construction would engage the Endangered Species Act protections. Furthermore, there were also omissions on how much carbon the project would add to the atmosphere through oil extraction.” This is stating how the polar bears need to be protected in which case the project will not be furthering into experiment.

5.In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Wayne Hills National Honor Society filmed videos for teachers and staff this November, thanking them for all of their hard work and dedication. While hybrid schedules and virtual learning have posed many challenges in the classroom, staff efforts to make the most of these adverse circumstances have not gone unnoticed. Thus, in an effort to show the student body’s thankfulness, NHS students signed up for a teacher of their choice and began filming their displays of appreciation. These videos were then compiled, edited, and sent to selected teachers in hopes of spreading a little gratitude and cheer this holiday season

6.While COVID-19 has had deadly outcomes, it has also provided the world with a positive result. COVID-19 has forced people to stay inside and to work from home allowing there to be less pollution in the air each day. On a wide-ranging scale this is impactful to the world and its environment. Over these past few years, we’ve gotten closer and closer to not being able to reverse the effects of pollution and global warming. Not only have we gotten closer to completely polluting the world, but every year about 4.2 million people die from pollution and bad air quality. This pandemic has allowed us to start to be able to reverse the effects on air pollution and has saved about 50,000 lives. Even after the miserable consequences, COVID-19 has had on everyone, it saved us.

7.California Senator Kamala Harris made history as the first woman and woman of color to be elected Vice President. The breaking of this glass ceiling is an inspiring milestone, creating hopes for a more diverse future. The daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother, Harris embodies generations of women and women of color before her that paved the way for her rise to the vice presidency. In a victory speech, she told cheering crowds that “While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.” Harris has a habit of being the “first”- a former San Francisco district attorney, in 2010 she became the first African-American and first woman to serve as California’s attorney general. In 2016, the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the Senate, and in August, the first Black and Asian-American woman to appear on the presidential ticket of a major party. Women like Harris, who has gone further in American government than any others before her, offer a shining role model to young girls who need such examples to pursue their own goals. A trailblazer in many ways, Harris provides representation to women and women of color.

8. Despite the heavy regulations due to Covid-19, the majority of fall sports at Wayne Hills were able to play out a full or half-season. Soccer and tennis were both able to carry on throughout most of fall, but the season for football was cut short by COVID-19 cases.  Despite the uncertainty regarding fall sports, Girls and Boys Soccer managed to safely complete their season and attend the 2020 NJSIAA Soccer tournament. Although there was a pause in the season, Girls Soccer managed to get right back on track and defeat Roxbury in the NJSIAA Girls Soccer Quarterfinal Round as their first game back. They ended up losing in the final round but still had an amazing season with a record of 9-2-1 overall. The Boys Soccer also demonstrated their skill by making it to the final round of the 2020 NJSIAA Boys Soccer tournament. They played an amazing game and ended with an overall record of 10-3. COVID had a crucial impact on all sports, yet, both soccer teams ended up having a phenomenal season. 

9.Even though Covid 19 had ruined the majority of this year, people have found ways to make the year a little better. One of those ways was to help each other by paying for other people’s food. According to GMA and Thrillist, there has been an event where 900 people paid for the person behind them and it resulted in the event to take around two and a half days. The event took place in a Dairy Queen in Brainerd, Minnesota, and it started on the 3rd of December and ended on the 5th of December. The workers said that in the past they had around 20 or so cars pay for the person in front but the number had never gotten as high as 900. The good thing about this event is that it shows the empathy and friendliness people have inside them and how people use that in desperate times such as this.

10.In mid-December, each member of NHS started writing two cards: one for a veteran and one for a person in the community of their choice. For instance, a lot of people chose police officers for their second card. Essentially, they were just holiday cards, wishing the recipients a happy holiday and thanking them for everything that they do. 

Every year the Wayne Hills community does something to give back to those who need a little push. This year with Covid-19, the National Honor Society had to get creative. Through the veterans who give back to this community every single day, the NHS decided to create New Year’s holiday cards. The plan was originally to give Christmas and holiday-themed well wishes but with many things in the way, it was hard to get them out on time. The NHS and its members made two cards, one for an assigned veteran and a person of choice. Many of the members chose a police officer as their second choice, who works to help keep the community safe.