Jasmina Ibrahimi, a licensed mental health counselor at Valley Medical Group in Amherst and Greenfield, has been a therapist for individuals, families, and couples since 2010. “My expertise is working with adolescents and adults,...

Before the pandemic hit, Global Cuts was a bustling barber shop, where seats lined the walls of people awaiting their appointments. Conversations reached from the front to the back of the shop. Global Cuts...

It’s a busy Saturday night. The restaurant is filled with the loud chatter of families enjoying their weekends and friends at the bar getting a couple drinks to wrap up their week. The mumble...

Rabbi Benjamin Weiner has led the Jewish Community of Amherst (JCA) since 2010. He is also a scholar of Yiddish and Irish literature and a writer. During March 2020, the JCA moved to entirely...

As we approach the anniversary of the day Amherst Regional Public Schools closed two years ago, we continue to be reminded of the fact we are living amidst a pandemic. Since the vaccine became...

In addition to being a mom of a sophomore ARHS student and a writer, podcaster, and college professor, T. Susan Chang, who goes by Susie, has also been a Certified Professional Tarot Reader since...

Samantha Marsh is a fourth grade teacher at Swift River Elementary in Wendell, MA. She is also a home baker who specializes in pie. You might find her on any given Friday, what she...

Eli Janney has been immersed in music for most of his life, working both in the studio and playing in bands since the 1980’s. He started in the D.Cc punk scene and eventually landed...

Ron Lashway is the funeral director at Douglass Funeral Service in Amherst, Massachusetts. His day-to-day life involves coordinating funeral services, securing venues and musicians for funerals, completing legal paperwork, collaborating with doctors and families,...

According to her website, new at-large Amherst council member Ellisha Walker is an “advocate for racial justice, community engagement, and equitable opportunities for all Amherst residents, including BIPOC and other marginalized groups.” Walker graduated...

Principal Talib Sadiq’s first year as a high school principal was last year, during the height of a global pandemic, when our school was online from September to May. Previous to leading ARHS, he...

As the pandemic dragged on for almost two years, it has become our “new normal,” and yet it has required major adaptation for teachers and college professors who have toggled between remote learning and...

On Friday, January 14, 2022, I had the privilege of interviewing Amanda Lewis, a new English teacher at ARHS. Her story interested me because previous to this year, she was a paraeducator working in...

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, many parents have had to work extra hard to help their young children learn, grow, and live in a constantly changing world, on top of navigating virtual schooling. Teachers have...

Dylan Tunnell is a paramedic firefighter for Amherst Fire department. He deals with a variety of different sorts of emergencies, whether they’re medical or fire. If it’s a fire emergency, he jumps on the...

Before Rachel Borsen retired, she did a lot of amazing work in varied fields. She was a physician specializing in cancer and blood. Later, she was a professor of medicine at UMass, teaching so...

Cheryl Demas is a home health aide, which means she travels around to help out people in their home. On any given day she might do anything from running errands to helping a client...

The pandemic has hit many people very hard, with many complications arising in most everyone’s jobs and social lives. But just as it had differing effects on everyone, people’s opinions differ a lot as...

College freshman Jessica Wilda thought the pandemic was on its way out when she headed to school this fall after graduating from Hopkins Academy in the summer of 2021. However, like many others, she...

Robbin Suprenant is a school nurse at ARHS and the nurse manager for the ARPS district and nurse Mary O’Brien works with her side by side at ARHS. School nurses always had a busy...

Michael Ash, 52, is a UMass Professor of Economics and Public Policy, but he’s also a father of two, an avid runner, and he is great at Sudoku. His work consists of doing research...

Every weekday morning this year, Elizabeth Bull could be found on the English hallway, in room 162, teaching Literature, Writing, and Public Speaking and American Literature and Society. Before that, she also taught Creative...

Terry Ominksy, the long-time administrative assistant and secretary to the ARHS principal, retired to great fanfare the week before Thanksgiving break. Ominsky grew up in West Springfield, MA, and graduated from West Springfield High...

The first time Aaron Buford walked into the doors of ARHS, he was not the Restorative Justice Coordinator, a job he started this year; instead, he was a ninth-grader who had just moved from...

Hannah Caruso, an Adjustment Counselor, was recently hired by ARHS. Caruso uses she/they pronouns and goes by Hannah with students.  Caruso grew up locally in Northampton. They went to Clark University in Worcester, for...

Rudy Cassidy is a new math and special education teacher here at the high school. They are currently teaching a math topics class, a geometry class, and an AB Calculus class. Cassidy grew up...

New dance teacher Remy Fernández-O’Brien is no stranger to ARHS. In fact, they are a 2008 graduate who fell in love with dance while taking courses with former dance teacher Tracy Vernon in the...

New physical education teacher Matthew Travis is thrilled to be a new teacher at ARHS. He currently teaches Health, tenth grade Physical Education and two electives: PE: Invasion Games and PE: Rec Games Travis...

Kristen Ripley is a new art teacher at ARHS who is excited to teach Drawing with Pen and Ink, Watercolor Painting, Digital Photography and Sculpture. Ripley starts her day by dropping her kids off...

Imagine going to college with a major in journalism, but when you graduate you realize journalism is not at all for you, so you become a teacher instead. Meet the new Academic skills and Financial...