by Meghan Macaluso, Special Reporter to the Maroon & Gray
Relay for Life is an annual event in the township of Nutley in May where citizens and students create teams to compete to see who can raise the most money for the American Cancer Society. Team members take turns walking around DeMuro track for one night to help raise awareness and fund cancer research. The event is open to all.
Mrs. Michelle Yasso sat with the Maroon and Gray on January 9th and was interviewed after winning Support Staff of the Year as part of the Governor’s Educator of the Year Program. She described her occupation as a member of the child study team, supporter of students with difficulties, and an evaluator for the students. However, in others' eyes she is so much more. Mrs.
Within Nutley High School, there are many courses and programs that help benefit the students. One of these programs is the Rutgers Allied Health Program. Over the years, this program has been present and has taught many students about the medical field and also helped prepare them for college.
Nutley High School is the biggest building in the school district. With that comes many different tasks to juggle between the students, teachers, and staff. Michelle Alberti and Kimberly LaScala are the NHS main office secretaries. Both play a very important role in keeping the building in check. Mrs Alberti has worked at NHS for four years and Mrs. LaScala has been here for a little over a year. Both are now experts regarding what goes on during a day at NHS.
Jade Giron, a junior at Nutley High School, recently applied for Yale’s 2020 Summer Program and was accepted.
Instrumental teacher, Vincent Vicchiariello, has been teaching in Nutley for 10 years in total, but is currently in his second year at Nutley High School. Mr. Vicchiariello has taught music for 11 years in total.
Every year, Nutley High School rewards their students with high quality academic performances. In a program called the National Honor Society, the students work with each other and their designated advisors to prepare for a ceremony that occurs every spring. The National Honor Society is run by NHS English Teachers Michael Gurrieri and Cheryl Rossillo.
NHS senior Aakash Patel and junior Anish Kumar were both awarded Eagle Scouts honors on December 17 at the Franklin Reform Church. Aakash and Anish were both awarded a pin and a certificate, symbolizing their dedication and motivation to being an Eagle Scout. The awards stands for everything they’ve done for the community and their personal achievements.
Mrs. Nicole David is a World History teacher at Nutley High School who has just received the 2019-2020 Governor’s Educator of the Year Award. David has been an educator at Nutley High for 23 years and has taught several different history classes. On January 9, 2020 Mrs. David was interviewed by the NHS Journalism class and spoke about her love for teaching, background in education, and her feelings regarding the award.
On January 13 and 14, 2020, Nutley High School’s Mock Trial team went head-to-head in a competition with several other schools at Newark’s Municipal Court. They placed fifth place in the Essex County competition and outscored schools from Caldwell, Cedar Grove, and East Orange. The team worked tirelessly in and out of school to prepare for their case and put hours upon hours of effort into making sure they would be ready for the competition.
Hosted annually at the Nutley Park Oval, the holiday season kicked off with the lighting of the tree on Sunday, December 8. At approximately 5:30 p.m, the festivities and holiday music began. With a section of Franklin Avenue closed from Chestnut Street to New Street, adults and kids were allowed to roam around and have fun. Nutley Mayor Joseph Scarpelli, in charge of the event, brought in horse and buggy rides for the kids, popcorn, roasted chestnuts, a live nativity, and song performances from the Middle School and High School choirs.
On November 18, 2019, Julia Resnick, a junior, reminisced about her success in her theater career at Nutley High School. More specifically, she spoke about her recent project in the fall play, The Night of the Living Dead and the large role that she played offstage. The Night of the Living Dead is about the deceased resurrecting and eating the living on Halloween. The zombies held people hostage in a farmhouse, where most of the play took place.
Ms. Gumbs is a Geophysical and Marine Science teacher who recently transferred to Nutley High School this year. Previously, she taught at Clifton High School and taught in Jersey City. And she has been in the education field for three years. She has always had a love for teaching and learning about her new students. Ms.Gumbs spoke to the Maroon and Gray on December 10, 2019, about her experience being a new teacher at Nutley High School.
In Nutley High School, many students come and go, leaving their mark behind them as they graduate. Many are remembered as someone who played sports, got good grades, or for being a great role model. A senior, who will graduate later this year, embodies all of these things, Samantha Gabriele. Samantha, or also known as Sam, is a student-athlete on the varsity girls soccer team and track teams who works hard at what she does to make sure her goals are accomplished.
On November 15, 2019, the Tricarico family of Nutley lost someone very important, their son and brother, James Vincent Tricarico. James was a celebrity in Nutley. If you ask anyone who lives in town about him, they knew who he was. The Nutley native attended Nutley High School for six years and graduated in 2006 and also worked as a Secretarial Aide for the high school for 13 years. He also worked for the Nutley ShopRite and called himself “the Mayor of ShopRite.” People who have visited the high school or the Nutley ShopRite were always given a warm welcome.
Host of 105.5 WDHA’s radio show, “Rockturnal,” Scotty B., also known as the “Southern Fried Maniac," has been in radio for about 35 years, and he knows everything there is to know about the industry. He learned about the music business through hard work and dedication. Rocking out from 7pm to midnight on weeknights, the northern Florida native knows how to have a good time on air.
Mrs. Granelli is a new Geophysical and Environmental science teacher at Nutley High School and has just recently joined the NHS community. While Mrs. Granelli will only be here for the rest of the year, she has come to work as an in-class support teacher in the science department. She stated that she has always had a love for teaching and working with students. Mrs. Granelli spoke about her experience at Nutley High so far, her teaching history before she came to NHS, and what she hopes to accomplish for the rest of the year.
Being a school counselor is not for the faint of heart. Students come to them throughout the day to ask for advice, change their classes, and sometimes just to talk about the things that have been bothering them. In this day and age where people are encouraged to talk about their mental health, a counselor has their hands full constantly. They face each and every person they see with respect and attention.
At Nutley High School, in mid-October and early Spring, students have the opportunity to take part in community service, either within the building or around Nutley. Not only does the community benefit from this day, the students do, too. They get their service hours for college which helps add to their college resume. This event was organized by the NHS Student Council.
This year, the school offered a plethora of volunteer options at locations such as the Nutley Family Service Bureau, Washington Elementary School, NHS.
In a high school setting, it is normal to have friend groups and “cliques.” By this age, teenagers have their set friends and don’t really make an effort to make new ones. It is hard for new students to make friends and blend into groups of people who have been friends for years, but it is especially hard for ESL students to put themselves out there into mainstream high school. This year at NHS, Mrs. Julie Mitschow, Coordinator of World Languages and ESL, came up with a solution to end this cycle.
