Halal cart merges Egyptian street food and New York influences
On North Pleasant Street in front of the Unitarian Church lies a hidden gem in plain sight, a gem worth six bucks with the potential to rock one’s world. Elsayed Fathi, owner of the...
Pit bull owners speak: ‘there’s nothing quite like [their] love’
Pit bulls, like some other breeds of dog, have gotten a bad rap for a long time. Is it well-earned? I found one source that argued that pit bulls contributed to 71 percent of...
Lili’s Restaurant: where the chefs eat
The unassuming small brick storefront of Lili’s Restaurant in downtown Amherst is sandwiched between the neighboring The Toy Box and Amherst Optical and could easily go unnoticed. The interior is just as modest. The...
Star Wars: a multi-billion dollar bridge connecting generations
We live in a world of great separation between generations. Few things have been able to bridge that gap; love and religion are a few of them. However, one glue that binds many generations...
In moving exhibit, students say #MeToo
In mid-October most people suddenly found their social media flooded with stories of experiences with sexual harassment and assault accompanied with the hashtag #metoo. There was a shift in our daily Internet consumption, and...
Menstruation emergencies call for tampons in every bathroom
The other day in the bathroom I noticed a tampon wedged in between the wall and stall divider. At first I was just thinking that it was just another wacky girls bathroom sighting to...
DC nails Wonder Woman but fails women with Justice League
Superhero movies and television shows are more popular than ever. The most recent Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok made 121 million dollars in its opening weekend domestically. People of all genders are embracing the world...
Students gear up for Senegambian exchange
Interim vice principal Ericka Alschuler called the Senegambian Scholars exchange “a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience different African cultures and countries, meet new people and expand people’s worldview.” Ms. Alschuler is the...
New Latin teachers passionate about language, climbing, yoga, contra dance
The world languages department has undergone many staff changes over the years; William Roundy and Nell Wright are the newest Latin teachers to join the crew. William Roundy Mr. Roundy grew up in Washington...
Interim English teacher Elizabeth Bull enjoyed teachers who “were there for you”
Ms. Bull moved to Amherst this fall in order to be closer to family after living in Miami for 22 years. She has been teaching for about 30 years, mostly in high schools. And...
Aidan Owens thrilled to support inclusion
At first glance, room 167 may seem like any other, but newly-hired special education teacher Aidan Owens explained that there is so much more than what one can see on the surface. Mr. Owens...
Paying to park: where does all the money go?
“They’re expensive as hell,” said senior Zack Ellis of the $75 parking permits required of students at ARHS. “I just don’t want to buy one.” Ellis is not alone. Many of the licensed student...
Step by Step: new class helps ELLs navigate college application process
During the end of junior year or by the start of senior year, most ARHS students have begun the college application process. It is long and complicated, its stress amplified for students whose first...
Refugees in Distress event
On September 28, 2017, the documentary Syria’s Disappeared: The Case Against Assad, was screened at ARHS. The film highlights the mass-scale murder and human rights violations being committed by the Assad regime in Syria....
Teachers and students attend Challenge Success conference
Challenge Success is an organization that has been focused on improving the lives of high-performing high school students they describe as “overloaded and underprepared,” for the past 15 years. The Amherst Regional school district...
Maria affects locals, motivates aid to Puerto Rico
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria, a category 5 storm that brutalized the Virgin Islands, made landfall on Puerto Rico, devastating the landscape and initially leaving 100 percent of residents without power. Since then,...
Boys’ cross country: running on heart
The last hundred feet of the five kilometer race. It’s now or never. You can hear your teammates screaming, cheering you on, but you zone them all out. Your one focus is on the...
Burst pipes bring new gym floor
“I’m surprised at how nice it is,” said senior basketball player Tate Rietkerk about the renovated ARHS gym. On the first day of school, this year, students and teachers were all in awe of...
Coach Handel talks football
This year’s football team had one of its best seasons in quite a while with six wins and three losses in late October. They won against Monument Mountain, Ludlow, Drury, Woodstock Academy, and Belchertown,...
Field hockey team wins game, makes post-season
By making the postseason and winning their first game since the 2014 season, the girls’ field hockey team made history. “I think we accomplished our goal of winning a game,” said senior and co-captain...
Spikeball tourney brings crowds, cash
Newly elected senior class president Peter Treyz, in an attempt to prove he is “not all talk,” brought the first ever Spikeball tournament to ARHS on September 27. Sixty students participated in the tournament,...
Girls’ varsity soccer rebuilds
Starting off the 2017 fall soccer season, the girls’ Amherst varsity soccer team haddealt with many setbacks. The loss of 11 seniors this year put the team through some rough circumstances, but it hasn’t...
Passion for sustainability drives Ryan Harb
The Amherst district has a new food service director and he has a big vision: to get “good food on people’s plates every day.” Ryan Harb started at UMass in 2004 as a business...
Dw McCraven: a climate- shaper and bridge-builder
New staff member Dw McCraven never thought she would end up working where she went to high school. After graduating from ARHS, McCraven studied at Manhattanville College, then earned a master’s degree at Columbia...
ARHS golf team ‘worked hard and came together’
The ARHS golf team had high hopes of improving after a 2016 season finish at 9-8. As of late October, the Hurricanes were 7-6 and looking to make the MIAA playoffs behind the leadership...
Mondschein, ARHS alumum returns for interim theater gig
Nate Mondschein is enjoying his time filling in for one semester for performing arts teacher and department head, John Bechtold, who is currently on sabbatical in England. Mr. Mondschein, who usually goes by Mr....
Kate Kuhn loves the ‘a-ha’ moments
My job at the high school is doing 75 things at once. That’s what it feels like to be a teacher,” said Kate Kuhn, a new English teacher at ARHS. Ms. Kuhn was hired...
From Rao’s to the classroom
Matthew Despres, a newly hired English teacher, teaches three blocks of Tenth Grade Literature, Writing, and Public Speaking; one section of American Literature and Society; and one Journalistic Writing class. While it is Mr....
Family and friends mourn loss of the ‘brave, witty, passionate’ Justin Xiong
Justin Xiong, a sophomore at ARHS, passed away on the morning of August 10 at Baystate Medical Center. In the time since, his loving family has been celebrating the passion and purpose he brought...
Narayanan wins grant to teach girls coding
As technology progresses, employers in all types of fields are demanding more workers who have tech skills and experience. “It’s really expanding; it’s growing,” said senior Neosha Narayanan. “They’re going to be adding thousands...
