Bulletin Boards, Pocket Constitutions, and projectors are just a few of the many things that Norwalk High School teachers have gotten through the online program “DonorsChoose.org.” In use by many teachers at NHS and around the country, this program has given school materials to classrooms in need.

Donorschoose.org was launched back in 2000, after growing out of a Bronx High School. Teachers in this school were encountering the effects of scarcity of classroom items.

Since 2000, over 105,000 projects have been brought to life by this website. In the fall of 2007, DonorsChoose.org opened to all fifty states.

Departments at NHS such as art and history have used DonorsChoose.org to obtain classroom materials.

Buying lunch at Norwalk High School for students has now become more of a hassle than ever before.  As of November 2009, on top of raising lunch prices, NHS is requiring students to enter their pin number or scan their student ID when buying lunch.

            On top of having to scan your id during lunch, the price of a water bottle at NHS was recently changed from $1.00 to $1.10 due to increased deposits on recycling.  This has affected both the students and cafeteria workers.  James Cooksey (’11) stated, “Increasing the price by ten cents in pointless.  It just puts more work on both the students and cafeteria workers.”

            Barbra Canty is the manager of the cafeteria at NHS, and she knows for a fact that these new prices affect both sides of the cafeteria.  “These prices annoy the cafeteria workers just as much as the students,” stated Canty.

            Odd prices and having to scan your student id are some of the hassles that take place at lunch each day.  “The reason behind this is to make sure that the person using the ID is the real student,” said Mr. Mecca.  “We don’t want students using or stealing other student’s ID’s.”

            Some students, like Vicki Giannitti (’10), have gotten money charged to their account that they did not even spend.  “Five dollars was charged to my account, and I don’t even buy lunch in the cafeteria,” said Giannitti.  “They sent a note home, and it was eventually taken care of.”

            This new method is targeted more towards students who have accounts with the school.  It is being done to help keep track of how much students owe and how much they are paying each day.

            Mrs. Canty feels as if this new method will increase the bond between the students and the cafeteria workers behind the registers.  “We are hoping that by having students scan their ID every day that the women behind the registers will get to know the students by name. We are hoping to create a more comfortable atmosphere.”

            Dylan Byrne (’11) agrees with Ms. Canty “In the beginning, this process was slow, but it sped up as time went on.  Having the cafeteria workers know me by name does not bother me; it creates a more friendly atmosphere.”

            Along with creating more of a bond between students and cafeteria workers, Barbara believes that this new process will help record meal counts, and money paid and owed by students.  “I can pull up any student’s record on my computer and tell you how much they owe, what they bought, and how much they paid.  Hopefully this will increase accountability and responsibility among the students of NHS.”

By a vote of 5-2 in favor of the proposal, the Zoning Committee approved the installation of the marquee in front of Norwalk High School.

The committee made it clear prior to passing the proposal that the marquee has set hours that should be strictly enforced and that no advertising is permitted on the board; only events that are pertaining to Norwalk High School. The Marquee will be strictly text only and there will be no streaming video or graphics of any sort.

Behind this project from the very beginning were five women who are very involved with the NHS community. Marquee chairperson, Rose Emro was ecstatic after the marquee was passed, “it’s a miracle, and I am so relieved. We have been waiting for this day for a long time.”

The five women also made it very clear that they “carefully considered all objections placed by the community. The neighbors concerns are our number one priority.”