Emma Amaya, Reporter
@eamayacourant
While teachers play a huge role in their students’ education, there are many unsung heroes whose jobs are vital for the school’s curriculum. Among these heroes are the Copy Center staff that provide fundamental services on a day-to-day basis.
The Copy Center is located near the world language hallway and is responsible for printing and copying paper material such as exams, handouts, and other instructional resources to support the activities that happen around school.
Before the Copy Center existed, however, teachers were responsible for copying and printing their own material. Math teacher Jennifer Lee noted that the copy center is crucial in helping her save time. “Before we had the Copy Center, at least half of my time spent in school during my off periods, before or after school, would be rushing to get photocopies done, or fighting with the photocopier to unjam it.” Ms. Lee said.
She now has the opportunity to use her time more efficiently. “The copy center gives me time to think about my planning, grading and meeting with other teachers.” Ms. Lee said. “ Without that luxury, I would just have a lot less time.”
“The copy center gives me time to think about my planning, grading and meeting with other teachers.”
jennifer lee, mathematics teacher
Copy Center staff member Anthony Medaglia, has been working at the NCHS copy center for thirteen years. “We’re able to achieve 70 percent of printing and aiming for 80 percent next year district wide, the other 20 percent is in the halls and in the offices, the printers that you see throughout the building,” he said.
Even though the learning environment is digitally focused, students still prefer to have paper material in front of them. Ms. Lee indicated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain backups, and a need to save paper. This resulted in increased digital learning. Once things went “back to normal,” she surveyed students to find out their preference: paper or digital? “An overwhelming majority of students said they wanted the paper copy,” she said. “Students are more likely to complete the assignment carefully if they have the problems printed on a sheet instead of working on a digital textbook.”
During the pandemic, a lot of time was spent staring at a screen, whether on Zoom, or while completing assignments. This, according to Mr. Medaglia, led to Zoom fatigue. “Print is tangible. It’s something that a lot of people appreciate now that you can step away from the computer and be a free thinker.” he said.
The Copy Center is an incredible resource that helps teachers and students print and reproduce paper material with ease. Mr. Medaglia, despite the hard work, considers his job rewarding and impactful for students. “The thing that makes me want to continue my job is seeing students that I knew from middle school or even lower come in as seniors and say ‘what you’ve done was really meaningful to me, and we had so much fun back then learning this process.’” he said.
“One of the most important things is that our printing impacts students, their lives are more rich from it,” Mr. Medaglia said. “That’s probably my biggest reward, paying it forward to students.”
