With over a year of virtual learning under America’s belt, schools across the nation have made an effort to give students both a fun and informative school year despite the restrictions of the pandemic. In a huge step towards normalcy, the Nutley Board of Education recently announced that elementary school students would return to school five days a week for in-person instruction. Mr. Michael Kearney, the principal at Radcliffe Elementary School, discussed the details of the return in a virtual interview. 

On March 11, 17-year-old senior, Taylor Carnell was interviewed by the journalism class at NHS. Carnell is the face of Nutley High School’s Student Council and has been committed to student government since his high school years in a small charter school in Idaho where he grew up. Although Carnell was not formally a member of the Student Council, he was an active member of his school’s community. Leadership motivates him and that's why he enjoys being president as much as he does. He moved to Nutley NJ and started his junior year at Nutley High School.

The Nutley High Schools Key Club’s job is to be actively involved in fundraising and helping out the community. Tyler Chang, a senior at NHS and the club’s president works with teachers, officers, advisors, and members of the Key Club. This club will teach important skills such as leadership, courage, and compassion which are all important in the real world.

Junior year is often referred to as the hardest and most stressful year of high school. It is a  year that’s filled with preparing for the next step into the future, and for many that regards college. Juniors are on the constant grind to focus on the different steps they have to take towards their future education. The SATs are usually taken junior year of high school, where students study and use preparation courses to get their goal score.

Easter is a very important holiday for Catholics and Christians. This year, like last, many chose to celebrate differently and more safely.  Jessica DeVito, Angela DeVito ,and Katherine Hannon shared what they are doing for Easter. They are all Nutley residents and are freshmen.  

The job of teacher has been completely altered by COVID-19. Educating face-to-face and creating bonds with students, has now turned into instructing through a screen and often being faced with technical issues.  Now that Nutley has moved  into hybrid learning, current high school English teacher, Jessica Coppola, explains how she’s been adjusting to this new teaching environment and its challenges.

Going back to school during COVID-19 has been a topic of discussion for many months now. Debates on whether it is safe to go back to school and how was a challenge that sparked many disagreements amongst the NHS community. After going back and forth, the NHS has decided to finally send students and staff back to school in a hybrid manner. NHS students will return in person for one or two days out of the five-day week. 

Nutley High School’s Director of Bands, Vincent Vicchiariello, was nominated and placed on the 2021 Yamaha “40 Under 40” list of top music educators in the United States. The “40 Under 40” was established by Yamaha to celebrate 40 of the highest level music educators under the age of 40. Hundreds of educators, nationwide, were nominated by students, teachers, parents, and administrations.

Among the many clubs and activities provided at NHS, the Nutley Youth STEM club was recently created by three juniors interested in STEM. Garv Goswami, Adam Benali, and Karam Youssef created this club in order to not only get high school students involved with STEM, but begin to get interested elementary students learning about STEM.

Black History Month is a month dedicated to the African-American Community, and is a holiday that is vital to the society. February celebrates people that have made history from 1849 through the present. People like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Harriet Tubman are vital to this celebratory month. Black History Month is about celebrating freedom from slavery and partially overcoming racism.  Mr.

February break is a time most students and staff spend with friends or family doing something enjoyable. This year, due to the Coronavirus pandemic plans can differ from past years. Students Jonathan Breihof and Cynthia DePersio share their past plans and what they hope to accomplish this February break. Including English teacher, Ms. Chelsea Freda’s goals during the days off.
 

On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person learning, and schools shut down indefinitely across the globe . Throughout the country and even worldwide, students were forced to learn virtually from their own homes and this made many things difficult. After six month of isolation, the 2020-2021 school year began. Schools tried to their best extent to give students some type of in person experience.

The longstanding crisis of police violence and systemic racism in America hit a flashpoint on May 25, 2020 as Minneapolis police officers killed George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man. Floyd’s death prompted a surge of demonstrations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement that quickly spread from Minneapolis to the rest of the country. 

Snowdays are very nostalgic for many current and past students all over the globe. Due to Covid-19, students of all ages have been learning virtually for the past ten months. Now that most people know how to use technology to access this at-home learning environment, it seems that snow days may be a thing of the pasts.

NHS freshmen, Christian Estrella and Jizelle Dancel have been observing the lack of representation regarding the deaf community for a long time. They now set out to make change. While just halfway through their first year in high school, the friends have petitioned and begun, the first-ever American Sign Language club at NHS. 

After 2020, many people came into the new year with high hopes and felt a relief leaving that the year behind. Many people chose to set their New Year's resolutions to focus on  health, eating well or exercising. Often, however, by February these resolutions have lessen and old habits increased. 

Every year, many celebrate the holidays with their families. Due to the COVID-19, things have been different and people have made changes to their plans this year. Some families are strict about Covid, and others have celebrated as they would every other year because there was a small group of people. NHS freshmen Audrey Helms, Mckenzee Annibal, and Angela and Jessica DeVito all celebrated the holidays differently and explained the restrictions of their family gatherings. 

School districts all over the country have been taking different approaches to getting back to a normal school life. Nutley Public Schools have officially begun reopening schools again starting in February for teachers and in March for students at all levels. As opinions arise on whether or not returning to in person school is a good idea; Vice Principal Joseph Materia, history teacher Mrs.

Due to the ongoing global pandemic, many students across the nation have continued to learn remotely and adapt to the virtual environment. Attending Google Meets, submitting assignments on time, and interacting with peers and teachers online has become the new norm for American students. Thus, maintaining grades, learning new material, and finding motivation can be difficult.

On July 1, 2020, Mr. David DiPisa began his role as Nutley’s new Business Administrator in the Central Office. Six months into the job, the Maroon & Gray caught up with Mr. DiPisa to learn about his his responsibilities as he works hard to prioritize the wellbeing of students and staff in the town.