You open a door and find yourself immediately catapulted into the action: a plethora of girls. The leader of the whole enterprise stands at the front of the wolf pack, standing tall with her chin up, knowing she will find what she needs and help others along the way. She holds a big, disorganized stack of papers, all black and white, and quickly glances on each one as she sorts through them.

When she sees a familiar name in the upper corner of the paper, the leader turns around and passes it to a face that matches the name, unaware of what joy she has bestowed upon the girl who has been pressing her hands together, waiting for her paper to be printed.

Time quickly passes as girls yell out how many minutes they have before the second bell. However, the leader, unruffled by the time that is left, keeps steadfastly sorting through the maelstrom of loose papers. The eyes look at the MLA header where she knows to find the names, while her mind focuses on herself, hoping to benefit from taking charge to find her own paper.

But, the leader realizes she has turned through all possible papers, which all seem trifling to her now. She is practically alone now; just her and this machine, both quiet.

Then, a sudden whir of energy begins running. The machine starts humming, the lights start flashing, the papers start moving, the printer starts printing. Her perseverance availed: She got her paper.

Now, you enter through that same door to the library where the printer and all of its chaos used to be, but no longer exists.

Those girls, hopeful to print their paper at school because the one at home ran out of ink or because she forgot it on the printer tray or maybe never had one at home, don’t have a place to print anymore since the Administration shut down printing because students are wasting paper and ink.

According to Associate Head of School for Academics Anne Schaefer, “There was an excessive amount of waste happening to the point where an entire ream of paper was being used per day and that was too much for what [the school printer] was intended to be used for.”

With a crucial backbone now currently unavailable, what will girls do now? Where will girls go for their printing needs? What about teachers, some of which rely on the hard-copy syllabi, handouts, or essay prompts? We asked them what their opinions are on being bereft of a printer.

Sophomore McKaela Glanville states, “I think that’s kind of frustrating and unfair because some people don’t have access to a printer at home.”

Social Sciences teacher Marty Herrmann says, “There was huge amounts of paper being wasted, and it is an environmental and ethical concern.” He is the moderator for the Green Club that promotes ways to be waste-efficient and reduce the school’s carbon footprint.

He added he supports a solution that is “an appropriate and environmentally sound way that students could use the printer.”

Herrmann’s classes have been using Schoology, an online resource that librarian Claudia Sarconi endorses. She says, “I think that students should be able to use [Schoology] and not waste paper…”

There are also some who tend to be middle-of-the-road on the issue. Social Sciences teacher Jonathan Tomczak says, “Coming from schools that didn’t have laptops, something about having it in front of you and holding it in your hands is nice…”

Schaefer added, “In order to help maintain the copy machine help live up to the commitment for a greener school and find a way to effectively manage the printing machine, we are looking into several options to be able to have that option [the school printer] available for students.”

What will happen next? Will the question “Are you connected to the printer?” be asked by students anymore? Will teachers no longer return essays covered in red pen markings within the margins?