With over 1,000 residents missing and nearly100 casualties and counting, the wildfires in California have been as devastating of a natural disaster as any in recent years. With billows of smoke traveling all the way across the country and reaching New York, the fire is breaking records of destruction in a place that is already in the midst of a drought and recently a mass shooting. With the fires beginning as early as September, the flames continue to grow with no end in sight.

Three-hundred seven. That’s the number of mass shootings that have occurred throughout 2018 in the United States. At press time, 1,579 people were directly affected  by these shootings and thousands indirectly; 328 people died. 

Country’s Diminishing Resources Leave People in Need

Yemen, a country which is located on the Arabian peninsula in Asia, is currently experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The crisis primarily began with the 2011–2012 revolution against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for more than three decades. Issues intensified with the start of the Yemen War in 2015. The United States had 100 military advisors that were supporting the government’s fight against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  

On November 6, 2018, the Nutley residents came out to vote for or against the school district’s referendum. The referendum focused on additions to John H. Walker Middle School, Washington, Yantacaw, and NHS. If the referendum had passed, the trailers at Washington and Yantacaw would have been removed, with additional space added, the sixth graders would have moved into an expanded middle school and the high school would gain much needed space.  The proposals also added enhanced security to the district.

On November 1, 2018, CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon would raise the minimum wage to $15, more than double the $7.25 federal minimum wage. This change was enacted after Amazon received backlash for having a low employee median income of $28,446 per year. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us,” said Bezos.

New Jersey is officially  one step closer to legalizing recreational marijuana. For many months, legislators have had false starts and delays to vote on a bill. However, on November 26, 2018, lawmakers finally advanced a bill that would legalize possession and recreational use of marijuana.

It’s that time of the year again, Thanksgiving. The one day families across the country gather around the table and give thanks. Through November and December, everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving and the holidays. Shopping and holiday preparation is underway during these two months.

On Tuesday, November 6, voters around the country hit the polls for the 2018 midterm elections. Up for consideration were 35 Senate seats, and all 435 spots in the House of Representatives.

Addressing Different Opinions on Brett Kavanaugh’s Nomination to the Supreme Court

Nutley High School received a security threat shortly after the Parkland shooting in Florida this past February. In addition to NHS, many schools throughout the state of New Jersey faced copycat threats during this time.  The threat prompted a quick response from the district and police, and Nutley Public Schools were closed for one day, following the threat. Since then, there have numerous evaluations and changes made to procedures and protocols to continue to protect the community, schools, students, and staff.   

Nutley High School is always looking to evaluate, change, and grow for the betterment of the student body, school and staff. The new 1:1 Chromebook Initiative is a perfect example of this. In an ever-changing technology-driven world, each student of Nutley High School received their own Google Chromebook at the start of the 2018-2019 school year. In previous years, students would access communal devices stored on carts, such as iPads or Chromebooks, in their classroom setting to aid learning.

NHS Students Take Online Financial Literacy Course During the Summer

Completion Expected in January 2019

Just as the 2018-2019 school year was about to begin this past September, the NHS auditorium experienced a partial collapse. Therefore, NHS began the year without use of the auditorium.

All Nutley teachers and staff reported to work on Tuesday, September 4 for an opening day meeting and to prepare for students’ arrival the following day.

Nutley Holds Events to Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month

For the ninth time in 10 years, the Nutley High School cheerleading team took home first place in the always-competitive, “Cheer for the Cure” held on October 4 at Foley Field in Bloomfield. Lead by their coaches, Breanna Dematteo and Deanna Pepe, the NHS Raiders performed their traditional halftime performance at the event. The team performed well, despite the bad weather.

Clubs are an essential part of school life for many students at Nutley High School. With approximately 40 groups, there is something for everyone to enjoy. After school on Tuesday, September 25, students were given an opportunity to discover and sign up for clubs at the annual Club Fair in the cafeteria, with representatives from almost every club present. Mr. Joseph Materia, one of the vice principals at NHS and organizer of the event, says, “Of all the club fairs that I’ve been at over the past several years, I feel like this was one that was represented by most of the clubs.

Annual Junior Olympics Proves a Bright Future for Nutley Athletics 

The Junior Olympics is an annual event that all five Nutley elementary schools participate in. Lincoln, Spring Garden, Radcliffe, Washington and Yantacaw compete against each other in a number of events.

Scholarship Night is a tradition at NHS. Over 80 seniors, from the graduating class of 2018, were awarded scholarships at this annual event.

This year's Scholarship Night was held on June 12 at 7:00 p.m. at Nutley High School. This NHS program benefits many students over the years. This event allows students and staff to come together for one night and pay recognition for the chosen seniors. The scholarships given are funded through local community organizations, colleges, elementary PTOs, and private citizens.

After 45 years in Education, Dr Kathryn Mitchell Retires this Year

Dr. Kathryn Mitchell is one of the school counselors at Nutley High School. She has been active in the field of education for over 40 years. Dr. Mitchell is concluding her successful career at Nutley High School at the end of this school year. She will officially retire on June 30, 2018. She has touched and impacted all of the students she has had and she worked to do her best for all of them.

Nutley High School’s Student Assistance Coordinator, Mrs. Lisa Cassilli, organized this year’s Crash Course in Reality program which has been teaching students in Nutley the potential outcome of distracted driving for the past 20 years.

Every five years, the district embarks on the creation of a strategic plan to help move the Nutley Public Schools forward. This year a community survey was sent out to parents, staff, and community to gather data on the things that the Nutley Schools should focus more of their attention on. Once the results came in, Superintendent, Dr. Julie Glazer, planned meetings to assess the most prominent concerns based on the survey responses.