Monty Tech junior brainstormed to aid her fellow students in need. How the 'Nook' came to be

When students return to Monty Tech in the fall, they will find a new pantry at the school aimed at providing necessary everyday items to students free of charge.

The “Nook,” which was created by student Jaida Ackeifi, a junior, and Katy Whitaker, the school’s development coordinator, will be stocked with everything from hygiene items, snacks, drinks, phone chargers, cereal, and microwaveable meals – just about anything a student might need to get through the day.

The goal of the pantry, which is located in a renovated empty space near the cafeteria and culinary office, was to provide for some of the school’s less-fortunate students and those who might have forgotten to pack a snack or charger – or even a Happy Birthday card - in the morning, according to Ackeifi.

“Mrs. Whitaker kind of had an idea of something like a shelf in a hallway that kids could just pass by and grab from, but then we brainstormed a little further and discovered there was an extra space that wasn’t being used, and the idea kind of branched out from there,” she said. “It’s a project that we both worked really hard on, and it means a lot to us.”

Nook pantry stocked entirely via local donations

After securing a location, Whitaker reached out to local retailers, including the CVS stores in Lunenburg and Leominster, to see if they would be interested in partnering on the project. The stores agreed to provide certain items that were past their sell-by date but still usable to the school’s pantry. Other items, such as milk, eggs, and fresh produce, are obtained through donations to the pantry, according to Whitaker.

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“ Aldi’s donated a $300 gift card, and the Monty Tech teacher's union is providing items for the Nook up to $1,000,” Whitaker said. “Also, we have received a number of generous donations of products from an Amazon wishlist I sent out to faculty and staff of Monty Tech – even our school committee members have gotten involved.”

“It’s been a great whole-school initiative,” she added.

“Every week or every two weeks, they’ll just drop off a truckload of things and we just restock the shelves,” Ackeifi said.

Signs in the Nook encourage students to remain nourished while studying and taking tests, and to pick up anything they think their siblings at home might be in need of.

Pantry will be open between 2 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. each school day

The Nook will be open to students each school day from 2:00 p.m. until 3:15 p.m., and a faculty member will be present to make sure that nobody is taking an excessive number of items from the shelves, according to Ackeifi. But she said that students had quickly understood the purpose of the Nook since the pantry’s unofficial opening a few months ago.

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“They’ve really become comfortable and open with the fact that it’s for kids who don’t have enough,” she said. “Yes, some kids come by for a snack if they need it, but they’re using it for the purpose that we built it for.”

Student response to the Nook pantry had been overwhelmingly positive, Ackeifi said.

“They’ve really loved it, they started labeling it the ‘snack shack’ until they found out the real name and the purpose of it – they all know it as the Nook now,” she said.

Ackeifi said she was pleased at the positive response the Nook had received from both students and faculty members at the school.

“It feels really good to see the impact this is having,” she said. “We enjoy going in every couple of days to see how many packs of mac-and-cheese and ramen noodles were taken. It really just shows students who might be suffering that the Nook is there for them, and it will be there for them regardless of what they have at home.”

Ackeifi said students returning to school in the fall will see signage around campus promoting the Nook, and that an informational video about the pantry was currently in production.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Monty Tech junior brainstormed to aid her fellow students in need. How the 'Nook' came to be