McCarthy jumps in to coach boys’ soccer
Recently, the boys’ varsity soccer team underwent a massive change for the 2025-2026 season, when ARHS P.E. teacher Jordan McCarthy stepped in to fill the shoes of prior head coach, Mathew Travis. The team...
Victoria Zakashansky shares her love of golf
Junior Victoria Zakashansky may be one of only two girls on the ARHS golf team, but she said that motivates her to be the best at her game. According to Zakashansky, 17 people play...
Cross-country girls: positive team culture leads to wins and joy
The girls’ cross country team is one of ARHS’s strongest teams, and a positive team culture is a key reason for its success. The girls are currently undefeated, and senior Lilly Pope says they...
Paraeducator Crystal Colon launches Puerto Rican food truck called Luciannie’s Empanadillas
Paraeducator Crystal Colon is frequently spotted in classrooms or in the gym at ARHS, where she has been the long-term sub for the Unified PE program. Before working at ARHS for the past seven...
ELL department bemoans the loss of beloved long-time teacher, Stephani Lopez, buoys students
Ashleigh Sayer, Head of the English Language Learning (ELL) department at ARHS, said that for years, she and her ELL colleague Stephani Lopez have offered support in learning academic English to around 50 students....
Searching for the best, fastest bagel breakfast sandwich nearby
Bagels have always been my go-to breakfast food. I’m always down to try new places, but recently I was thinking about different bagel places and realized I don’t have a favorite bagel spot. I...
Teachers Cocco and Cardozo head up girls’ tennis; team touts positive vibes
The ARHS girls’ varsity tennis team has experienced exponential growth and increased popularity during the past few years. Having only five members in 2021 meant they could only have three singles players and one...
Swimming and Diving team wades on, despite funding woes
In October of 2024, just weeks before the official Amherst swimming and diving season was set to begin, the home base pool at ARMS stopped being usable due to a water pump issue. This...
King Arthur Flour’s ‘Book of Bread’ re-inspired my love of baking bread
Like many people, I learned how to bake bread during the pandemic, mastering bagels, challah, and pizza. I enjoyed baking for my family, and it was fun to experiment with different variables like hydration,...
Observing the magic of the All States Choir event at Boston Symphony Hall
On Saturday, March 29, 2025, I watched the All States choir performance at Boston Symphony Hall. All States is a select group of choral students from across the state, chosen through a selective audition...
A personal connection to Frank Ocean’s art
Frank Ocean, whose real name is Christopher Edwin Breaux, began recording and creating music in 2005 while still a high school student. After releasing two albums, Frank Ocean “vanished from the world,” according to...
USAID workers speak to ‘The Graphic’ about Trump’s catastrophic cuts to their government agency
Established in 1961, by President Kennedy, USAID, or the United States Agency for International Development, has been pivotal in responding to crises worldwide every year since. In addition to human-made and natural crises, USAID...
Advanced Video Production class preps students for careers in film
It’s a Tuesday in January in B-period Advanced Video Production class, and students are typing away at their computers, ripping footage off cameras, editing their final projects, and most likely trying desperately to get...
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...
Will Roundy: teacher by day, climber at dusk
William Roundy, the one and only Latin teacher this year at ARHS, spends a lot of his time out of school staying active and fit. He runs, weightlifts, and does yoga; however, one of...
‘Aint no mountain high enough’: Todd Fruth on his love of hiking
Todd Fruth has been a music teacher at ARHS for almost nine years. He teaches Choir, Music Production, and Music Theory classes, but on the side, he enjoys yoga, running, meditation, games, travel, and...
Ashleigh Sayer learns through travel, witnessing things ‘people do every day in different parts of the world’
Though Ashleigh Sayer is now the ELL department head at ARHS, she started teaching in 2007 and began teaching ELL classes in Amherst in 2016. In addition to running the programs for English language...
The legacy of manga genius Akira Toriyama
On March 1, 2024, Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Dr. Slump, and many other series passed away due to an acute subdural hematoma, leaving behind a roughly 40-year legacy of inspirational...
Rod Wave’s new album a relatable meditation on loss and grief
I was scrolling through YouTube to get my music started to clean my room when I realized Rod Wave had dropped his new album. The moment I heard the first few lyrics it spoke...
‘Balloonerism,’ the second posthumous album released by Mac Miller’s estate, is an ‘incredible listen’
Since his passing in September of 2018 at the age of 26, rapper Mac Miller has released two studio albums recorded prior to his death. The most recent dropped on what would have been...
‘I’m Still Here’ a haunting film about Brazil’s military dictatorship and the lives that hung in the balance
The film “I’m Still Here” directed by Walter Salles, is based on the book of the same name written by Marcelo Rubens Paiva about his family during a really difficult time in Brazil’s history....
A moral conundrum: Juror #2 a taut courtroom film
Juror 2 is about a man named Justin Kemp (played by actor Nicholas Hoult) who is chosen for a jury on a murder trial, only to realize he may be responsible for the murder...
Ten years in the making: ‘Nosferatu’ is gripping revival of classic 1922 film
Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, is a Gothic retelling of the classic vampire story and draws inspiration from many spheres of literature, film, and folklore. Eggers is well known for his eerie period pieces...
Rosie’s story: from art class at ARHS to a design team at Urban Outfitters
ARHS graduate Rosie Dinsmore, age 23, is an artist who sees beauty in the mundane and recognizes creativity in those who may not see it for themselves. She is the kind of person who...
Leila Tunnell: cultivating gardens and a love of the game
Leila Tunnell is 36 years old and works as the garden educator for the Amherst Public Schools. But she is also the co-head coach of the Bx Varsity Ultimate team at Amherst High School....
Jim Pistrang is the Ultimate coach
Jim Pistrang has been coaching Ultimate Frisbee at ARMS since 1994, but his legacy goes far beyond his 30-plus years of coaching in Amherst. As a high school senior in New Jersey, Pistrang helped...
Kara Bear takes lead in organizing Harvest Dinner to address food scarcity, highlight Indigenous wisdom
Light chatter and the smells of good food wafted through the halls of the Lighthouse School, 92 Race Street in Holyoke, on the evening of Wednesday, November 27. With a pristine commercial kitchen for...
Remember Together Event: a healing gathering for Anna Burns’s family and others who grieve
On November 1, 2024, from 6-8 p.m., a group of 12-14 people gathered at the Munson Library for the Remember Together event organized by Sarah Goff, the mother of ARHS student Anna Burns, who...
Piece of cake: auction before Thanksgiving showcases bakers’ talents
Cakes of all shapes and sizes and designs awe-inspiring, funny, and also disgusting lined tables in the cafeteria. Students and staff walked by oohing and aahing, trying to decide on how much to bid...
Students praise vote to nix MCAS as graduation requirement
This November, voters in Massachusetts approved Question 2 on the ballot, which eliminated the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) as a high school graduation requirement. This shift marks a major change in the state’s...
