It was Tuesday, March 10th, 2020, when Governor Kristi Noem made this announcement: “The state’s public health lab has confirmed the first presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the state of South Dakota.” She announced five cases tied to out-of-state travel—and the state’s first COVID-related death. It was an introduction to three words that would dominate the year – COVID-19, coronavirus and pandemic. Three days later, by March 13th, there were 1,600 cases throughout the United States. That same day Governor Noem declared a state of emergency in South Dakota. She called on all public k-12 schools to close for the week and encouraged private schools to do the same.