2019

• August 2019: New ETHS weight room debuted

When the 2019-2020 school year began, students were welcomed with a newly updated weight room. Having this improved weight room has opened many doors for students, including sports-specific training as a P.E. class, lifting with sports teams and doing weight training as an after school activity. 

• December 2019: Trump impeached  

In December of 2019, the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 

2020

• March 2020: ETHS shuts down due to COVID-19 pandemic & quarantine begins

In March 2020, ETHS shut down for what everyone thought would be just a few weeks. This turned into two years of being in lockdown and doing online school, which had a major impact on students’ lives.

• May 2020: Murder of George Floyd

Derek Chauvin, a police officer in Minnesota, murdered an innocent man, George Floyd, after handcuffing him and pinning him to the ground with his knee so that he was unable to breathe. In response to this, many citizens of Evanston, including many students, participated in marches and protests against police brutality. Since these protests were happening during times of uncertainty due to COVID-19, many students also tried to show support for anti-police brutality activists by staying informed from their homes. 

• August 2021: Robert Crown Community Center reopens after renovations 

Robert Crown, which was initially built in 1974, was taken down and rebuilt on the other side of the property. Even though the Crown Center being demolished was difficult for some students because of how much time they spent there, the new Crown Center offers many opportunities for students to interact with other people in the community through sports and other activities. Evanston’s hockey teams plays in the new building, there are meeting rooms, a branch of the library, and basketball courts which are also used by students frequently. 

• January 2021: Presidential election + insurrection 

Following a win in November, President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral votes were being counted when the Capitol building was attacked. In response to Biden’s win, Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol in an act of insurrection to protest the election results. Despite the devastating interruption to the historic practice of counting the electoral votes, Biden’s presidential win was confirmed later that night.

2021

• April 2021: COVID-19 vaccines available to students 

A few months after vaccines became available for adults, all high school students were eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This allowed many ETHS students to get the vaccine and begin returning to normalcy. 

• April 2021: ETHS opens up again for hybrid learning

After months of E-Learning ETHS opened up for hybrid schooling for the fourth quarter of  the 2020-2021 school year. Over the following summer, ETHS made the decision to go back to full in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year.

• September 2021: Superintendent Witherspoon announces retirement 

Eric Witherspoon, ETHS’s superintendent from 2006 to 2022, announced that he would be retiring and the search for a new superintendent began. After a semester-long search, the District 202 school board announced that Assistant Superintendent Marcus Campbell was selected to step into the role. 

• December 2022: School-wide lockdown 

Just after third block started on Thursday Dec. 16, ETHS went into a hard lockdown. The lockdown was the result of marijuana and two guns being discovered in students’ possessions. After the two and a half hour lockdown, students were dismissed and the administration announced that the following week of school before winter break would be e-learning due to rising COVID-19 cases. The adaptive pause created an air of uncertainty for students heading into winter break. 

2022

• February 2022: Mask mandate lifted at school and in Evanston 

Soon after Gov. Pritzker lifted the mask mandate in Illinois, ETHS followed suit and students were no longer required to wear masks. The mandate being lifted was nerve-wracking for many students, but slowly more and more students began to feel comfortable with not wearing a mask in school. 

• March 2022: Russia and Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Russia began their invasion of Ukraine. This included missiles and airstrikes across Ukraine, as well as a large ground invasion from multiple directions. The conflict has not died down since then, and many classes at ETHS discussed the topic a lot this year. 

• April 2022: Climate walkout 

In April, ETHS students participated in their second climate walkout of the year. The walkout, facilitated by E-Town Sunrise, led the group of students group out of school for 8th block and marched to fountain square in Downtown Evanston.  The walkout emphasized student engagement in climate justice and the need for ETHS to take action in fighting for a sustainable future.