Meet Hayley Greland, the new BRYT Coordinator

In room 146, on the language hallway, resides a program known to students as the BRYT (Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition) room. There you can find the BRYT Clinical Coordinator, Hayley Greland, whose job it is to support the ARHS students on her caseload. 

Greland grew up in Hanover, Massachusetts. Her family consists of her mom, dad, and her older sister. This also includes childhood pets, a lot of cats and dogs, none of which are currently alive anymore. “Typically, two cats and anywhere between one to three dogs at a time,“ said Greland. Her cats’ names are Tinky and Punky, and her dogs’ names are Lulu, Holly, Jazz, and Tia. 

One of her childhood memories includes one of her dogs, Lulu. While her family did have two cats before she was born, Lulu was able to grow up alongside Greland. “Watching an animal grow, that was really exciting,” said Greland.

In high school, Greland loved English. Specifically, she said AP English challenged her to do better because she was often scoring lower than the other students. “By the time I would get a three, everyone else would get a four,” said Greland. But that didn’t stop her from being motivated and being one of the few students who passed the exam. “[The class] really helped push me to do better and persevere,” said Greland. 

On the other hand, Greland’s least favorite class was math. The challenges in math were different from those in English. When you don’t understand one thing, it is hard to understand the rest. “There is this attention to detail,” said Greland. “Like you make one mistake and it makes it difficult to figure out where things went wrong.”

As for her hobbies, Greland likes cooking, baking, gardening, herbalism, and music. These hobbies come from the fact that she always loved being outside. Her mom had a bunch of flower gardens at her house. “I was always doing chores outside, weeding, climbing trees, and helping her grow things,” said Greland, though she didn’t get into cooking until her mid-twenties.

Greland went to UMass Amherst to major in psychology and minor in political science and sociology. She liked the diversity of the place, live music, and being able to connect more with the local nature. “I enjoyed moving into a bigger community having grown up in a small town,” said Greland.

At first, Greland wanted to be a therapist, but she strayed away when she thought she needed a PhD. However, when she realized that there were different routes she could take, she returned to therapy. Additionally, being out in the real world helped her appreciate therapy as the right choice. 

“Working with people in different avenues and human services, I found that [therapy] is what I wanted to do,” said Greland. She enjoys therapy because it involves finding problems one-on-one. “[It’s about] finding that root cause, beginning to untangle that, and then finding the path forward,” said Greland. 

Greland had many other jobs before she found her way to ARHS and this is the fifth school district she has worked in. She has been a school adjustment counselor, a clinical case manager, a paraprofessional, a yoga and mindfulness teacher, an ABA therapist, and also an outpatient therapist. Now that she is a therapist at ARHS, she helps BRYT students by supporting them with their work and checking in with them.

Typically, on Mondays in the BRYT room, they start with a slideshow for the week. The students talk about their weekends and say how they are feeling. Then they talk about any current assignments and upcoming tests and finish with a little exercise. Other days are the same but without the slideshow.   

On her first day, she was nervous as she didn’t know what to expect. She met many BRYT students who either came in to see who she was or already had BRYT on their schedule. “It was a day of learning a lot of new faces and learning the new routine,” said Greland. 

Initially, Greland didn’t know anyone before she started to work at ARHS. Fortunately, she was able to connect with another BRYT room teacher, Anthony Pizzano, because they spend much of their time in the school together. She also felt welcomed by all of the teachers she has interacted with. “Everyone has been helpful,” said Greland.

As for what Greland wants to achieve next, she has some therapy training that will happen in the next year. She is also deciding what direction she wants to take things in, and what other ways she can offer to students to support them. “I think [2024] has been a big year of just learning,” said Greland. 

Greland thinks the ARHS community looks after each other, that community events are nice, and that the emphasis on diversity is great. “[It’s] a culture of people who are learning,” said Greland. Her message to the ARHS community is: “I’m happy to be here and I look forward to getting to know more people.”