Show me the Money
Before retiring, former Principal Athol Wong made it her goal to raise enough money to replace all the old lockers. Unfortunately, when students showed up on the first day of the new school year, they saw the same lockers as before, despite having donated money the previous year.
“We currently have a portion of the money necessary to refurbish the lockers,” Principal Josh Eby said. Last year’s fundraising was not enough to replace all of the lockers throughout the school, but not much information was given on what would be happening next. This left many students wondering what would be done with the money: would just some of the lockers be redone, would the fundraising continue this year, or would the money be put towards another cause?
As of now, the money remains unused, and has been set aside until enough is raised to complete the entire project. However, 150 locks have been purchased to replace those that do not work. Eby’s goal is to continue with fundraising this year and buy new lockers soon, but so far, nothing has been done to collect the funds they need. “I know it was a big push of Mrs. Wong’s and it’s not going away,” Eby said.
Renewbury Park, an organization of volunteers who have worked to do many projects around the school, are very involved in the locker project. This organization began in August of 2012, when several parents decided to work together to refurbish the school. Renewbury Park’s projects include repainting the front of the gym, and one of their priorities is to fix the lockers.
“The locker project was one of the initial motivations for the Renewbury Park High School Team initiative,” said Joseph Noga, a Renewbury Park volunteer. They had originally raised about $14,000, with the help of a $5,000 parent donation coupled with a $5,000 contribution from the NPHS PFA. However, this was not nearly enough to put a dent in the overall goal.
“The Renewbury Park project is still alive,” Eby said. “One of my goals is to complete this and get the proper lockers and functionality that our students deserve.” Eventually, all of the lockers will be replaced. How long it takes depends on how well the fundraising goes.
