For the first time in school history, there is a lanyard shortage. 

As of the first quarter of the school year, the technology department has distributed 600 lanyards to the Class of 2025. When compared to the 240 sophomore lanyards, 110 junior lanyards and 86 senior lanyards, it comes as no surprise that the fountain has run dry on orange lanyards.

“Of the 600, 287 went to the freshmen on their first day,” technology and facilities director Mrs. Gara Schommer said. The remaining 313 have been purchased by ninth graders throughout the year, meaning that there are currently 2.09 lanyards for each freshman in the school.

Currently, the technology department is distributing leftover lanyards from the Class of 2020, complete with stickers to denote the lanyards’ temporary status. “We’re handing out some loaners and we had to ship them from overseas,” Schommer said. “I ordered a thousand of them. They should be in by Dec. 10,” she said, meaning the end of the lanyard shortage is in sight. 

From a financial perspective, the technology department spends $2.97 per lanyard and $5.50 per ID card, while students are charged $3 and $7 for the respective replacement items. The labor and ink cartridges necessary to produce ID cards mean that there is no profit.

Given that this job falls solely on one person in the department, Schommer offered advice for students who are prone to losing their lanyards, saying that implementing a routine could prove quite helpful. Whether it is taking it off and putting it in a special spot in a backpack or a car, Schommer said that having a simple system in place can prove quite beneficial. 

While lanyards may seem like a nuisance to some students, they do serve a purpose. Schommer said, “(Lanyards are) good for security, for printing and for efficiency. While (lanyards seem) like a hassle, there is a purpose for them.”