While the activity of Marching Band tends to be known by many, Indoor Percussion has yet to become a household name. Marching band includes wind and percussion instruments, competing outside on fields throughout the fall. Indoor Percussion, however, focuses only on percussion instruments with a few dancers, preforming indoors in gyms. While the Nutley Marching Band has been around for close to 100 years, the Nutley Indoor Percussion Ensemble is only in its fourth year. 

The Coronavirus, dubbed as COVID-19, has been taking the world by storm since it’s first diagnosis in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019. From there, it spread to more than 146 different countries, including, but not limited, to the United States, Canada, Iran, Japan, Italy, France, India, the United Kingdom, Russia, and even Ireland. 

Mrs. Nancy Thunell, an anti-bullying specialist at Lincoln School and Spring Garden, is the face behind many successful and helpful activities that occur within the community. Not only does she devote her time and energy into counseling the students at the elementary level, but she is also the club advisor for the St. John’s Club which collects food donations monthly to bring to St. John’s Church in Newark. 

Super Tuesday plays a great role in the Presidential election. It is used to determine the individual who will represent the minority party for the presidential election and who will then run against the incumbent or a new candidate from the majority party. This process is done through a state voting system, usually conducted through caucuses, where people will vote for the individual who will represent the party that he or she is affiliated with.

On January 26, nine people, including Kobe and Gianna Bryant, passed away in a helicopter crash in California. Since then, the whole world has been mourning these deaths, especially Kobe’s wife, Vanessa Bryant. At the memorial held on February 24, 2020 at the Staples Center, Vanessa Bryant along with friends Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal, gave some very heartfelt, tear jerking speeches. 

Before dawn on Tuesday, March 3, dangerous storms and a tornado hit central Tennessee, leaving 24 people dead and hundreds of buildings destroyed. The tornado mainly hit East Nashville, ruining some of the town's famous landmarks. Power was knocked out for nearly 50,000 Nashville residents. It was recorded as an EF-3-rated tornado and it expanded about 50 miles. There are already 20,000 people signed up to volunteer to help and clean Nashville and the surrounding areas that were affected by the damage.

On February 24, 2020, influential Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, was found guilty by a jury for two out of five sexual assault charges. Mr. Weinstein was convicted of rape and criminal sexual act, although he was acquitted for one of the more serious charges, predatory sexual assault. As a result of the criminal charges, the producer faced a possible sentence of five to twenty-five years.

During February, Nutley High School began an initiative to get the senior students to register as voters. Conor Fitzpatrick, Raj Paghdal, and Ryan O’Connor, went to the senior English classes to educate their peers on the process of registering, completing legal documents, and teaching them about politics and policies associated with voting.

The year 2020 is here and welcomes a new season of college rankings. Princeton University remains at the top of the New Jersey list. However, beyond this Ivy League lies countless colleges in New Jersey with great reputations that seem to be ignored. 

As of February 10, 2020, about 43,090 people have contracted the Coronavirus and 1,016 people have died.

The Novel Coronavirus, also known as the Wuhan Coronavirus, was first discovered in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. A coronavirus is a blanket term for multiple strains of virus; the common cold being one of them. Yet these two viruses can’t be more different. 

Australian bushfires are a nationwide phenomenon. These wildfires are unlike anything the world has seen before, especially in Australia. They started in late October 2019 and are still burning throughout the entire country. Large bushfires like this mostly happen in lowly populated and forested areas of the world like Canada, not in very populated places like Australia.

On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, Nutley High School held an informational meeting for the current eighth graders of John H. Walker Middle School to help them transition into high school. Since the high school process may seem daunting to students and parents, the Nutley High staff offered an opportunity to make the transition more welcoming and exciting.

Close to 400 students, parents and staff members came out on February 4, for dinner and a movie at NHS. In partnership with the Nutley Educational Foundation, the District presented a screening of the documentary LIKE, focusing on the perils of social media and the impact of technology on our lives. A panel discussion followed with NHS students, staff members as well as key members from our community. 

On January 22, 2019, presidential candidate and United States Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton for $50 million in damages.

On January 18, 2020, Nutley faced a tragedy like no other. Amanda Russo, 29, and her 7 year-old son, Danny, were victims of a deadly house fire on Park St. in Nutley, NJ.  The house set on fire on a Saturday afternoon leaving the 74-year old grandfather injured and grieving.

On Sunday January 26, 2020 at approximately 9:00 am PST there was very dense fog in the air in Orange County, CA. Because of these weather conditions, the Los Angeles Police Department grounded all aircrafts until the afternoon. Retired NBA player, Kobe Bryant and eight others, including his 13- year-old daughter, Gianna, took off in Bryant’s private helicopter, Sikorsky S-76B, from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California.

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As the year comes to a close, American citizens await to see what next year’s election has in store. The 2020 election, however, is one that is very out of the ordinary. The current President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, was just formally impeached on Wednesday, December 18, a process enacted by the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Black Friday in Nutley is not only considered the day for crazy shoppers and sales, but a day where families and friends come together to welcome Santa and Mrs. Claus as they arrive at the Nutley Park Oval. As the tradition continues for its 58th year, on November 29th Mr. and Mrs. Claus flew in on their helicopter onto the Oval to meet and take pictures with the children to kick off the holiday season. Santa’s arrival is enjoyed by the Nutley community as families come to share the experience of such a unique yet traditional event in Nutley. 

On November 21, 2019, representatives from 12 colleges and universities came to Nutley High School for Instant Decision Day. Instant Decision Day gives students the opportunity to meet with college admission representatives who hold a short interview with them. Once the student’s application was reviewed, they received an instant admission decision. NHS students came to school dressed professionally, ready for their interviews.