Mid-Hudson News has launched a “Student Journalist” section to allow elementary, middle, and high-school students to write essays or “news as they see it” for submission. The following is an essay from one of our “Student Journalists”, Andrew Martin.
RED HOOK – As you all know, we are currently in a pandemic, which has affected many families globally, including mine. We used to have a routine, but not anymore. Our new routine is finding things to do on days where I don’t have remote learning. We have not had much luck because when everything around you is changing, that changes everything about you. For example, I never used to pay much attention to what was happening around me or have restrictions about where I could go. Now I only go to two places; my house and my mom’s empty office building. I’m not used to just my mom, dad and me in the office. You can really notice an echo in the building. Another change is that my dad now has a virtual court on Skype. We play a game to choose dinner nowadays. We draw numbers from a hat, and if my number is picked, I make dinner and get to choose what we do that night. Usually, we play games or watch a movie.
I go to Oakwood Friends School. Since the pandemic started, Oakwood has been doing remote learning. For some schools you have to wake up, go on zoom, and do your classes, but not for Oakwood. Although we do have office hours every day and optional meetings with teachers on Zoom, I am assigned two classes per day on Google Classroom. We don’t have classes on Fridays or the weekends. Assignments are due the next time that class meets. It is a big change to go to school and suddenly switch to doing school at home. I do not like to be behind, but one of my teachers said that we were “making the last dash for the finish line” and I couldn’t agree more. In time I’m sure that I’ll get used to remote learning.
Before the start of remote learning, I had a project in a Student Skills class. We were doing a news broadcast, and I was the Breaking News person, reporting on the Coronavirus. I interviewed Marc Molinaro because he is the Dutchess County Executive. At the time, there were only 3 cases of Coronavirus in Wappingers. That was a week before all heck broke loose.
Since I can’t do anything with people that aren’t my family, I can’t see my friends. It has been hard to keep in contact with them, but we Facetime now and then, text, and play online games together. One of my friends went to California during the beginning of the Coronavirus for a wedding. The day he came back is the day Coronavirus began to really impact New York. That was upsetting because we planned to welcome him back with an awesome night at Bounce and buy mini cars and drive around over spring break. I think I knew deep down that it was never going to happen, but I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. I hope every single one of them and their families are doing well. Perhaps we’ll all be able to go to Bounce once this whole thing is over.
I have other restrictions on where to go and what to do. I used to be able to go on bike rides through town, but not anymore. Now I can only be in the yard or driveway. I loved going shopping and sneaking things in the cart so my parents would buy it, but now I’m just waiting in the car. I used to be able to play baseball on a team, but now I’m just playing with family (My dad can’t throw strikes.) I absolutely loved taking things out of the grocery bags and eating them right away, but now I have to wipe it down and wash my hands very well afterwards.
On days where I have remote learning, this is how my day works: I wake up, go on the Xbox, and wait for breakfast to be finished. Then, I switch to Netflix to watch Once Upon A Time while I eat my breakfast. After that, I take a shower, brush my teeth, put on deodorant, get my phone and go to my mom’s empty office building. I do my remote learning there and I watch Impractical Jokers on Hulu. At the end of the day, I go home and we pick a number from the hat. After we eat we play Monopoly. Before bed, I make sure to sanitize and charge my phone. If there’s one thing I have learned so far, it is never take anything for granted, especially the simple things, because in times like these the simple things become impossible.
About the author:
I’m Andrew Martin, an 11th generation resident of Red Hook. I’m 11 years old. I live with my parents Jeff Martin, who is a Family Court Judge, and Michelle Martin who is a Financial Advisor. I have an older brother, Ethan Martin, and an older sister, Moorea Martin. Both are college students. I have two older siblings that are not in my house: Kaili Martin and Zach Martin. Kaili lives in Virginia where she is a Social Worker at a nursing home. Zach lives in Miami where he is a Youth Minister and Head of Music for a large church. I go to Oakwood Friends School, where I am in 6th grade. I love all of my subjects, my most favorite one is History because we learn about ancient times and interesting mythology. Outside of school, I enjoy a number of things like baseball, music, and theatre. I have done 17 shows at The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, and several school productions. I also play the drums. (We have a setup in my basement.) I play first base and I pitch in baseball. My dad is my coach at home. (Yankees all the way!!!) Another hobby of mine is politics. My dad ran for Family Court Judge about a year ago and I was with him from the start. I was his Junior Campaign Manager. I absolutely loved going door to door, handing out pamphlets, public speaking, working alongside Karen Smythe, Antonio Delgado, and others.
If you have a student that is interested in writing a submission, please send an email to bender@midhudsonnews.com and include a brief bio and picture of the student along with a note from the parent giving us permission to edit and post the story and photograph.
