ARHS PGO Parent News

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DIAL/SELF Americorps is an amazing opportunity for high school graduates who want a rewarding GAP Year! For more information, click HERE to access the flyer.

Here are videos of Sequoya and Brianna’s Americorps colleagues (our Americorps Members working in the Future Center and Restorative Justice respectively! Liam’s story about LightHouse; a compilation video of Jahan in action; Nick explaining why D&D is important; a walking meditation with Joshua; all members sharing why they serve!

The Graphic is the student newspaper of Amherst Regional High School. Most articles printed in The Graphic are written by students in Journalistic Writing classes.

The Graphic, and its lead reporter Talvin Dhingra, were recognized by the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C. as finalists for the 2023 Student Freedom of Information Award. Their investigative reporting revealed instances of misgendering and lack of support for trans students by school counselors, leading to staff suspensions and resignations. The recognition highlights the role of high school journalists in addressing complex community issues, according to Gary Green, Executive Director of the Student Press Law Center.

What a great publication! http://thegraphic.arps.org

Life After ARHS wants you off your couch during April Break! Join our Americorps Member Sequoya on a tour and information session:

Hampshire College on 4/16 at 1:00pm (meet at 12:30pm)
Amherst College on 4/17 meet at 1:15pm at ARHS (will walk)
UMASS Amherst on 4/18 at 1pm at UMASS at 12:30pm. 1:00pm 

4/12 Deadline to Sign Up (non-ARHS sponsored event). Register Here

Support the HS Senior Class: 10% of the total order will be donated to the class.

“The deadline to submit orders for lawn signs celebrating your graduating senior is April 15th.”

Buy one and donate one sign for another graduating student. $15 per sign. Orders are due Monday, April 15th. Click HERE to access a Google Form to order your lawn sign.

Signs will be available for pickup at the Class of 2024 fundraiser dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday, April 23rd, or by arrangement. 

Contact Pam Rieterk (pamrietkerk@gmail.com) with any questions or to arrange an alternate date to pick up your order.

Congratulations to the 2024-2025 Excellence Award Grant recipients! In its 30th year, the Amherst Education Foundation (AEF) is thrilled to announce a total of $24,594 in grants have been awarded in support of programs spread throughout the Amherst-Pelham School District.

Click HERE for more details on the following projects: Community Building & Restorative Practices at Fort River; Fiber Art As A Mindful Practice at Summit Academy; Gymnastics Mats at Crocker Farm; Pelham Elementary Playground Project: Outdoor Big Block Play, and Zooming In: 6th Grade Microscopes and Microscope Cameras. 

Thank you to all the individuals, businesses, and organizations that have supported AEF throughout the years, making it possible for us to continue helping teachers and staff in our public schools implement such important projects and programs!

Our sneaker drive fundraiser keeps sneakers out of landfills and reduces toxic chemicals from being released into our air and soil. All reusable sneakers from our sneaker drive fundraiser program are recirculated to secondhand markets so people can access quality, pre-owned footwear at affordable prices. All heavily used and damaged footwear is recycled to reuse materials or to convert waste into new energy.”

Please consider donating used or unwanted athletic shoes to this fundraiser for the ARHS PGO and to help others and our environment! For each pair of athletic shoes donated to gotsneakers? you will not only be making a global impact, but you will also be helping the ARHS PGO earn money for student and teacher grants.

This fundraiser drive started in February and will continue throughout the school year. There are boxes ready to be filled in the high school guidance office. If you have a donation but cannot get to the high school, please get in touch with Nancy Johnson at johnce34@gmail.com to make other arrangements.

Help Environmental Action Club offset carbon emissions in the community by purchasing a tree sapling! Each sapling only costs $5, and EAC will deliver and plant it in your yard!!

Please use the link https://tpevents.org/school/4194 by April 18th to order your sapling, or to find out more about the event.

Apr. 15-19: Spring Break
Apr. 23: Dine-to-donate @ Texas Roadhouse

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ARHS has decided to extend Quarter 3 to include Monday, April 8th. This will provide the additional time students need to complete the work associated with Quarter 3. This means that our plan for showing Mr. Mahnken’s eclipse video will still occur on Monday in all D-period classes but with Q3 D period classes rather than Q4 D period classes.

D-period teachers will provide eclipse viewing glasses for every student so that they can safely watch it later that afternoon (we recommend starting to watch at around 3 pm).

Sam Camera
Assistant Principal

Buy one and donate one sign for another graduating student. $15 per sign. Orders are due Monday, April 15th. Click HERE to access a Google Form to order your lawn sign.

Signs will be available for pickup at the Class of 2024 fundraiser dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday, April 23rd, or by arrangement. 

Contact Pam Rieterk (pamrietkerk@gmail.com) with any questions or to arrange an alternate date to pick up your order.

We are actively recruiting Hampshire County parents and caregivers of 12-18-year-olds for some focus groups we’ll be running at the end of April/beginning of May. Focus group discussions will be about caregivers’ relationships with their kids, and how they approach the topic of youth drinking and cannabis use with them.

If you are a parent or caregiver and would like to sign up, please do! You can sign up by clicking here.

Support the HS Senior Class: 10% of the total order will be donated to the class.

Art students at ARHS have been proudly making bowls in their Ceramics courses to donate to the Amherst Survival Center’s Empty Bowls Dinner for the past 16 years. After throwing almost daily for three months, students became incredibly good ceramicists and set a very high bar for their donations.

Volunteering and viewing their bowls alongside those of outstanding local potters is always a great honor. Making a $50 donation is something most of them couldn’t normally do. Alums have repeatedly said that being a part of Empty Bowls affected their outlook on creative ways to help others and contribute to their community. Tickets to the Empty Bowls Dinner, Saturday April 6th, can be purchased on the ASC website. 
• Includes a handcrafted bowl.
• Includes soup of your choice, bread, and light dessert.

Students from left to right: Thatcher Rudnik, Yasmine Alvarado Moreno, Caroline Lambert-Mergendahl, Hayden Reilly Hogan.

Hannah Hartl
Art Teacher
Amherst-Pelham Regional High School
hartlh@arps.org
0

Our sneaker drive fundraiser keeps sneakers out of landfills and reduces toxic chemicals from being released into our air and soil. All reusable sneakers from our sneaker drive fundraiser program are recirculated to secondhand markets so people can access quality, pre-owned footwear at affordable prices. All heavily used and damaged footwear is recycled to reuse materials or to convert waste into new energy.”

Please consider donating used or unwanted athletic shoes to this fundraiser for the ARHS PGO and to help others and our environment! For each pair of athletic shoes donated to gotsneakers? you will not only be making a global impact, but you will also be helping the ARHS PGO earn money for student and teacher grants.

This fundraiser drive started in February and will continue throughout the school year. There are boxes ready to be filled in the high school guidance office. If you have a donation but cannot get to the high school, please get in touch with Nancy Johnson at johnce34@gmail.com to make other arrangements.

Join Mass Mammals for a conversation about their Citizen Science Project on Thursday, April 11 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm in the Woodbury Room at the Jones Library.

Two undergraduate researchers from Amherst College will share a bit about black bears in Massachusetts, have a conversation about their project, and invite you to learn how you can be a more engaged and involved community scientist! The Massachusetts Mammals Citizen Science Team is a research group focused on tracking mammal populations across the state through community data submissions. Free and open to the public.

Apr. 6: Empty Bowls Dinner
Apr. 15-19: Spring Break
Apr. 23: Dine-to-donate @ Texas Roadhouse

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Students at work on their field trip to the UMass Crafts Center. Thank you again, PGO, for awarding us grant money to make this trip possible. The students were overjoyed and so engaged in every aspect of the trip. 

Kristen Ripley
Visual Art 

Hello,

My name is Mary Lou and I am on the subcommittee of the Regional School Committee called School Equity Advisory Committee (SEAC). We are having our monthly meeting next month, April 3rd, 2024, Wednesday at 6:45 pm to 8:45 pm at the ARHS Library.

The SEAC works hard to keep the focus on an equitable education for all our children.

We recently spoke to RSC to reject the budget as proposed which included cutting the Restorative Justice Coordinators at both ARMS and ARHS.

You can see us speak at the March 12th, 2024 RSC meeting at this link: (about 37 minutes in)
https://youtube.com/live/MGN4IFYEhso
https://youtube.com/live/fiepjBBUExY

It’s time to order a lawn sign for your senior. You can also donate a sign for another graduating student. $15 per sign. Orders are due Monday, April 15th. Click HERE to access a Google Form to order your lawn sign.

Signs will be available for pickup at the Class of 2024 fundraiser dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday, April 23rd, or by arrangement. 

Contact Pam Rieterk (pamrietkerk@gmail.com) with any questions or to arrange an alternate date to pick up your order.

REMINDER!!! Spring sports night is next week on 3/15/24 at 6PM in the high school gymnasium. 

Continue to check ArbiterLive for updates, the link is on the athletic webpage. 

Please make sure an up-to-date physical is in with our school nurse, Robin Suprenant. Robbin’s email is suprenantr@arps.org . 

Hello! I am Amrita Rutter, an ARHS senior and one of the leaders of Amherst Sunrise. As many of you may know, our school is facing MAJOR budget cuts this year which could greatly impact our experiences as students. One way that you can help us advocate for a solution is by filling out this FORM. You can also scan this QR code

The ARHS PGO is happy to partner with Minted’s Fundraising Program which provides the ARHS community with a unique promo code: FUNDRAISEARHS.

20% OFF Minted cards and gifts all year round, and 15% off each order placed using our unique promo code which will be donated back to the ARHS PGO at the end of the year.

Click here for a flyer with all the details.

The Amherst Hurricane Athletic Boosters scholarship application is now open.

The $1,000 scholarship is a one-time award to assist student-athletes pursuing further education. Scholarships are intended to recognize outstanding graduating athletes of ARHS. Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of their athletic success, dedication, sportsmanship, and leadership, as well as academic effort and character. The application deadline is March 31, 2024.  Click on the link below to apply.

Apply online today!

Art students at ARHS have been proudly making bowls in their Ceramics courses to donate to the Amherst Survival Center’s Empty Bowls Dinner for the past 16 years. After throwing almost daily for three months, students became incredibly good ceramicists and set a very high bar for their donations.

Volunteering and viewing their bowls alongside those of outstanding local potters is always a great honor. Making a $50 donation is something most of them couldn’t normally do. Alums have repeatedly said that being a part of Empty Bowls affected their outlook on creative ways to help others and contribute to their community. Tickets to the Empty Bowls Dinner, Saturday April 6th, can be purchased on the ASC website. 
• Includes a handcrafted bowl.
• Includes soup of your choice, bread, and light dessert.

Students from left to right: Thatcher Rudnik, Yasmine Alvarado Moreno, Caroline Lambert-Mergendahl, Hayden Reilly Hogan.

Hannah Hartl
Art Teacher
Amherst-Pelham Regional High School
hartlh@arps.org
0

Program Overview: The UMass Turing Summer Program is a free 3-week summer program for High School students interested in or would like to learn about Computer Science and its use to address challenges in healthcare, energy, and many others. The program requires a full-day commitment from students, and their ability to commute daily to the UMass Amherst campus is a must. Lunch is complimentary throughout the program.

Intended Participants: While the program is specifically designed for entering tenth and eleventh graders (entering sophomores and juniors) in high schools in Western Massachusetts, rising ninth graders and seniors are welcome to apply. A background in computer programming is not necessary to attend. A basic mathematics background is assumed for this program.

Program Format/Schedule: The program runs from July 8-26th, 2024, every weekday from 9:30 am to 4 pm, with one lab and two classroom sessions. These sessions expose students to sensing, data analysis, and visualization concepts. We design a hands-on program where students will learn by application, and the program will feature the use of signal processing and machine learning using Python and an intro to health sensing using apps for Android phones. 

How to Apply: Online registration is now open. Please visit https://lass.cs.umass.edu/turing (or scan the QR code) or email us at turing.umass@gmail.com 

Our sneaker drive fundraiser keeps sneakers out of landfills and reduces toxic chemicals from being released into our air and soil. All reusable sneakers from our sneaker drive fundraiser program are recirculated to secondhand markets so people can access quality, pre-owned footwear at affordable prices. All heavily used and damaged footwear is recycled to reuse materials or to convert waste into new energy.”

Please consider donating used or unwanted athletic shoes to this fundraiser for the ARHS PGO and to help others and our environment! For each pair of athletic shoes donated to gotsneakers? you will not only be making a global impact, but you will also be helping the ARHS PGO earn money for student and teacher grants.

This fundraiser drive started in February and will continue throughout the school year. There are boxes ready to be filled in the high school guidance office. If you have a donation but cannot get to the high school, please get in touch with Nancy Johnson at johnce34@gmail.com to make other arrangements.

Did you know that, when you donate goods to the Baystate Textiles bins by the ARHS parking lot, you help raise money for the PGO’s activities at ARHS? Please see the flyer below for more information about this program, including which items are accepted in the bins. (Note that everything must be bagged; please do not leave items outside the bins, which are emptied regularly but occasionally fill up.)

Join us for an evening with writer and scholar Amy Bass as she talks about and reads from her book One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game that Brought a Divided Town Together on Tuesday, April 9 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm, Woodbury Room at the Jones Library.  

When thousands of Somali refugees resettled in Lewiston, Maine, a struggling, overwhelmingly white town, longtime residents grew uneasy. Then the mayor wrote a letter asking Somalis to stop coming, which became a national story. While scandal threatened to subsume the town, its high school’s soccer coach integrated Somali kids onto his team, and their passion began to heal old wounds. Taking readers behind the tumult of this controversial team – and onto the pitch where the teammates vied to become state champions and achieved a vital sense of understanding – One Goal is a timely story about overcoming the prejudices that divide us.

Emmy award-winning writer Amy Bass, Ph.D., is Professor of Sport Studies and Chair of the Division of Social Science and Communication at Manhattanville College. As a writer and scholar, she engages audiences inside and outside of academia with a focus on sports, culture, and politics. Her first book, Not the Triumph, but the Struggle: the 1968 Olympic Games and the Making of the Black Athlete, is considered a standard-bearer for the study of sport from a cultural perspective. Her most recent work, One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together, was named a best book of 2018 by the Boston Globe and Library Journal.  A native of the Berkshires, she resides in the New York metropolitan area with her husband, daughter, and a dog named Cuffy. Bass received a Ph.D. in History with distinction from Stony Brook University.

Bass will also be speaking at UMass on Monday, April 8 from 4:00 – 5:30 pm in 601 Herter Hall in a presentation entitled Listen to Athletes for a Change: Why Sports Matter.  Learn more at https://www.umass.edu/history/events/listen-athletes-change-why-sports-matter

Apr. 3: School Equity Advisory Committee meeting

Apr. 5: PreK-12 Early Release (12:00 PK/12:30 elem./1:20 secondary)

Apr. 15-19: Spring Break

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We will be holding MCAS on Tuesday, March 26th, and Wednesday, March 27th, and have an adjusted schedule.
See the schedule. It includes a 2.5-hour delay for grades 9, 11, and 12.  

If your student will be late to either MCAS testing or will arrive later than the delayed start time, please send your student in with a note. If you have any questions or concerns about MCAS testing, please send an email to Chey Charvis at charvisc@arps.org. Any questions related to attendance should be sent to Wilnelia Melendez at melendezw@arps.org. 

It’s time to order a lawn sign for your senior. You can also donate a sign for another graduating student. $15 per sign. Orders are due Monday, April 15th. Click HERE to access a Google Form to order your lawn sign.

Signs will be available for pickup at the Class of 2024 fundraiser dinner at Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday, April 23rd, or by arrangement. 

Contact Pam Rieterk (pamrietkerk@gmail.com) with any questions or to arrange an alternate date to pick up your order.

Thanks for supporting our ARHS seniors!

Hi parents and guardians! The Schools for Africa club is inviting your students to be a part of the ARHS “Talent” Show on April 11, which will follow ten contestants in a game-show format through different rounds for a chance to win $100 (cash prizes for second and third, too). Ask your students if they are interested in a chance to show off their strengths in a low-stakes environment through a talent showcase, interviews with our teacher judges, a live tug-of-war, a karaoke battle, and more! As proud UNICEF partners, all proceeds go to funding underprivileged schools in Cameroon. Open to all grades.

Performers interested in participating sign up HERE. 

Disclaimer for students: don’t worry about being the next Mozart to compete: just be funny, and make money.

Please come join the Amherst Hurricane Athletics Boosters at our upcoming meetings! We are seeking parents with student-athletes of all grade levels. Join simply to attend meetings, or take part in committees with small jobs. Being a member of the Boosters is a great way to contribute to the ARPS and Amherst athletic community positively. Please join our upcoming meetings, held on Zoom. Go Canes!  

Wednesday, April 24, 2024, 6:00 pm – Recruiting of Board Members & Annual Golf Tournament- If nominations schedule vote for next meeting
Wednesday, June 12, 2024, 6:00 pm – Scholarship Award Winners, Golf Tournament, Board Recruitment vote or continuation
Wednesday, October 2, 2024, 6:00 pm- Board members finalized- prep for Annual Meeting
Wednesday, October 30, 2024, 6:00 pm- Annual Meeting w Votes, if needed- Review of 2023-2024 year- Annual Report
Wednesday, December 11, 2024, 6:00 pm- Final meeting of the year- form Committees to start/continue

Link for all meetings:https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1609142632?pwd=YWJkZDdwMmhLU3JTTVgvUnBDbnFiQT09

Meeting ID: 160 914 2632 
Passcode: 222273

The Amherst Hurricane Athletic Boosters scholarship application is now open.

The $1,000 scholarship is a one-time award to assist student-athletes pursuing further education. Scholarships are intended to recognize outstanding graduating athletes of ARHS. Applicants will be evaluated on the basis of their athletic success, dedication, sportsmanship, and leadership, as well as academic effort and character. The application deadline is March 31, 2024.  Click on the link below to apply.

Apply online today!

Open to families of English learners, former English learners, and all ARPS families who speak languages other than English.

The next MPAC meeting is on March 27th at 7:00 pm.

• Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88307553211
• Let us know HERE if you need an interpreter for the meeting.
• Access the MPAC meeting flyers in various languages HERE

We hope everyone who attended our last meeting will invite a multilingual family to join us.!

José Lugo
MPAC secretary

Did you know that, when you donate goods to the Baystate Textiles bins by the ARHS parking lot, you help raise money for the PGO’s activities at ARHS? Please see the flyer below for more information about this program, including which items are accepted in the bins. (Note that everything must be bagged; please do not leave items outside the bins, which are emptied regularly but occasionally fill up.)

Hello,

My name is Mary Lou and I am on the subcommittee of the Regional School Committee called School Equity Advisory Committee (SEAC). We are having our monthly meeting next month, April 3rd, 2024, Wednesday at 6:45 pm to 8:45 pm at the ARHS Library.

The SEAC works hard to keep the focus on an equitable education for all our children.

We recently spoke to RSC to reject the budget as proposed which included cutting the Restorative Justice Coordinators at both ARMS and ARHS.

You can see us speak at the March 12th, 2024 RSC meeting at this link: (about 37 minutes in)
https://youtube.com/live/MGN4IFYEhso
https://youtube.com/live/fiepjBBUExY

Our sneaker drive fundraiser keeps sneakers out of landfills and reduces toxic chemicals from being released into our air and soil. All reusable sneakers from our sneaker drive fundraiser program are recirculated to secondhand markets so people can access quality, pre-owned footwear at affordable prices. All heavily used and damaged footwear is recycled to reuse materials or to convert waste into new energy.”

Please consider donating used or unwanted athletic shoes to this fundraiser for the ARHS PGO and to help others and our environment! For each pair of athletic shoes donated to gotsneakers? you will not only be making a global impact, but you will also be helping the ARHS PGO earn money for student and teacher grants.

This fundraiser drive started in February and will continue throughout the school year. There are boxes ready to be filled in the high school guidance office. If you have a donation but cannot get to the high school, please get in touch with Nancy Johnson at johnce34@gmail.com to make other arrangements.

 As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Smith Charities offers several types of financial gifts to those Amherst residents who qualify. For instance, they are eager to get the word out to Amherst widows with children under 18 that they could qualify for a significant amount of money each year if they apply and qualify. Click on the links below to get gift-specific information.

PDF Tradeperson Gift Information Sheet

PDF Nursing Gift Information Sheet

PDF Widow Gift Information Sheet

PDF Marriage Gift Information Sheet

Mar. 27: Multilingual Parent Advisory Council meeting
Mar. 29: Good Friday (No School)

Haga clic AQUI para ver los artículos del boletín en español.

Our sneaker drive fundraiser keeps sneakers out of landfills and reduces toxic chemicals from being released into our air and soil. All reusable sneakers from our sneaker drive fundraiser program are recirculated to secondhand markets so people can access quality, pre-owned footwear at affordable prices. All heavily used and damaged footwear is recycled to reuse materials or to convert waste into new energy.”

Please consider donating used or unwanted athletic shoes to this fundraiser for the ARHS PGO and to help others and our environment! For each pair of athletic shoes donated to gotsneakers? you will not only be making a global impact, but you will also be helping the ARHS PGO earn money for student and teacher grants.

This fundraiser drive started in February and will continue throughout the school year. There are boxes ready to be filled in the high school guidance office. If you have a donation but cannot get to the high school, please get in touch with Nancy Johnson at johnce34@gmail.com to make other arrangements.

Program Overview: The UMass Turing Summer Program is a free 3-week summer program for High School students interested in or would like to learn about Computer Science and its use to address challenges in healthcare, energy, and many others. The program requires a full-day commitment from students, and their ability to commute daily to the UMass Amherst campus is a must. Lunch is complimentary throughout the program.

Intended Participants: While the program is specifically designed for entering tenth and eleventh graders (entering sophomores and juniors) in high schools in Western Massachusetts, rising ninth graders and seniors are welcome to apply. A background in computer programming is not necessary to attend. A basic mathematics background is assumed for this program.

Program Format/Schedule: The program runs from July 8-26th, 2024, every weekday from 9:30 am to 4 pm, with one lab and two classroom sessions. These sessions expose students to sensing, data analysis, and visualization concepts. We design a hands-on program where students will learn by application, and the program will feature the use of signal processing and machine learning using Python and an intro to health sensing using apps for Android phones. 

How to Apply: Online registration is now open. Please visit https://lass.cs.umass.edu/turing (or scan the QR code) or email us at turing.umass@gmail.com