We are the society our history books talked about; we just never knew it when it first happened. We have read about pandemics in our history books: The Black Death in the 14th Century, Influenza at the end of the 19th Century and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. We drill our brains to remember their details in case they come up on our history final. Important aspects include where the illness originated, how it was scientifically and politically handled and how it impacted society. This time around, we are that society.

We quarantined ourselves in our homes for months. If we dared to, we could peak outside our windows (turn on the news) to see the world as we knew it was falling apart. Restaurants were closing; “social distancing” was encouraged; masks were debated. School was moved online; spring sports and activities were canceled.

Everything we had once done in person was modified to fit an online format. There was probably only a three week time period between when our physical world shut down and when our virtual world took its place.

It is easy for high school students to hide in the bubble of their hometown, especially in Antioch. However, the new increase in social justice activism reached all the nooks and crannies of The United States, including our own.

In Antioch news, our adviser of seven years, Patrick Johnson, announced that he was not going to be returning this fall. Johnson recently decided that he was going to the University of Iowa to teach journalism and get his doctorate in mass communication. It was a bittersweet moment for us; our trusted leader would no longer be there to guide us, yet he was moving on to bigger and better things for his career.

With no direction to go but forward, we began to plan for the future. The Antioch Community High School English department chose Madelynn Soberano as our new adviser. Soberano received her Bachelor’s degree in English Education from Illinois State University this past May. She is also a 2016 ACHS and Tom Tom alumna.

With all this being said, Sequoit Media is going to look different this semester. 

District 117 decided to begin the first three weeks of the school year online, and then attempt hybrid-style learning for the remainder of the semester. Our response is to move all content online for the first semester. We will begin producing content on SequoitMedia.com and social media in September. 

Our community knows us best for our print magazines; however, due to a lack of printing time and to reduce physical contact, this content will be transformed into online packages promoted on our website. While our print content may be limited, the Tom Tom is looking forward to amping our online and social media presence.

The world continues to throw obstacles at us. We will continue to put our community first.