Administration removes yearbook from tuition costs

Yearbook Moderator Christine Zurkowski sits at her desk, worried that the hard work of her students will go to waste. This year, the school yearbook “Pacificus” will be optional to buy. Prices started at $55, and will cap at $75 in March. As of October 1st, the cost of the yearbook is $65.

“I’m worried that not everyone would order the book, just because they forget. I feel more pressure to sell it,” Zurkowski said.

“We want parents to have the choice to pay for the yearbook,” Principal Madelyn Ball said. “We are [also] giving them to every senior for free because it is their yearbook. Most of what’s in it is for them.”

Junior Alex Nyce, yearbook staffer, agrees with Zurkowski. “I haven’t really thought about that, but I can see why it might be an issue,” Nyce said.

“I prefer [paying for it separately] to it being included in tuition, because a lot of people don’t want a yearbook, and they had to pay for one automatically before,” Junior Erin Welsh said.

Sophomore Julianna Richard has a different take on these changes. “It feels unfair that seniors don’t have to pay for yearbooks while the rest of the school does.”

Nick Miller is an A&E Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

JC enhances building with new TVs

This year the cafeteria has seen renovations, including two new flat-screen TVs. This brings the total number of flat-screen TVs in the school to six, with one smaller TV in the guidance hallway and another smaller TV in front of the athletic offices. There are currently two in the cafeteria, two in the main hallway, and one in the library.

“There is certainly a possibility for more, but right now all the places that students mainly gather have TVs,” Director of Technology Greg Russell said.

The TVs were donated by the Class of 2014 as a gift to the school, each costing around $1,000.

“The main purpose of the TVs is to show news events from JC, digital signage, sporting events, daily bulletins, lunch menus, and special events,” Russell said.

The TVs are not yet functioning because there are cable and electrical wires that still need to be installed.

“We hope to have the TVs running in the next two weeks,” Vice Principal of Student Affairs and Technology Brian Powell said.

In addition to buying these wires and paying for their installation, JC is buying an extra bundle that consists of  HDMI, VGA + Audio,and network cables, which will enable  the TVs to stream content. The money for this bundle is coming from the technology budget, which is 450,000 dollars a year.

According to Powell, “we bought a digital signage package to show information such as shadow information and congratulations to sports teams.”

Kristen Isoldi is an A&E Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.