ARHS PGO Parent News

On Saturday, June 27, at 11 am, all are invited to waltz through time on the lawn of the Amherst History Museum. A Victorian ballroom dance performance will take place on the front lawn of the Amherst Historical Museum at 67 Amity Street. This performance will provide a glimpse into the 19^th century. The Small Planet Dancers, a community-based performance/dance troupe focusing on historically-accurate cultural dance, will transport you on a journey back in time. The past will come to life during this performance. The performance is funded through a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council; it is free and open to the public. After the performance you are welcomed to tour the museum or buy tickets to the Garden Tour, 10 am to 4 pm. For information about the museum and Garden Tour tickets click here.

Please see the attached flyer about the Barnes & Noble Book Fair to benefit Fort River Elementary School this Sunday, June 14th. Kick off Summer Reading with a celebration of Fort River’s Cultural Diversity:

1:00 Cambodian Dancing
2:00 African Talking Drums
3:00 Sing with Carina and Milena
Multicultural Story Times throughout the day
Father’s Day craft table and a raffle

B&N Flyer2

Use Book Fair ID 11614765 at checkout at http://bn.com/bookfairs to support our school with your online purchases! Available June 15 – June 19.

ARHS Principal Mark Jackson, along with the entire ARHS faculty and staff, received the Amherst A Better Chance House’s annual  Local Heroes Award. The awards states it was presented to Amherst High School  for encouraging, “All ABC Scholars to meet their full potential as Students, as Citizens and as Leaders.”

Read more about the ABC House in the Amherst Bulletin article here.

With the support of an ARHS PGO grant,  a visiting poet attended two ARHS English classes (American Lit. & Nature) this spring. Sean Vernon is a songwriter, musician, poet and performer living in Western Massachusetts. Sean has recorded 6 CDs to date. Sean’s recordings feature musical settings of poems by famous British and American poets. Sean’s 1st album, Wider Than The Sky, is a collection of 14 poems by Emily Dickinson and is carried at the Emily Dickinson Museum. Mr. Vernon came to class prepared to talk about several specific American poems, ranging from Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.  Sean had set each poem to his own music and he accompanied himself on his guitar, singing several settings to our students over the course of each hour he spent with them. His sessions were highly interactive–lots of back and forth discussion about poetry, life and music. He also led students through a couple of  poetry writing exercises using the poems he played as inspiration for prompts he had created. He was able to get students to share what they had just written–his manner was so warm and personable and passionate that they easily responded to him. Th next day, they had nothing but glowing feedback about his visit and they readily realized the value he had created for us in so short a time–just an hour, but packed with energy and a depth of feeling and thinking about poetry. ~Thanks to Danae Marr & Tracey McCormick 

The Amherst Human Rights Commission 11th Annual Youth Heroes Awards and Annual Potluck Picnic will take place on June 14th from noon to 2pm. Area students are recognized for demonstrated acts of kindness, unselfishness, social courage and/or community service. The ARHS students chosen to receive the 2015 Human Rights Youth Heroes Award include: Noreen Swan, Sajo Jefferson, Larenz Harris, Shekenah Rocke and Liam Brodigan. ( This is also the very first Race Amity Day in Amherst.) The Community is encouraged to attend the ceremony and to bring a dish to share at the picnic. Sunday, June 14th from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm at the Mill River Recreation Area. Contact Deborah Radway, Human Rights Director, 413-259-3119, humanrights@amherstma.gov. For more details about all the awardees, please read the press release available below:

Awards Letter 2015

The national TEAM+S engineering competition results are in. This year our Junior Varsity team (9th/10th grade level) earned BEST in STATE, finishing first in Massachusetts and 9th in their division nationally. The team members were: Marion Carr (captain), Claire Siege, Benjamin Siege, Eniola Ajao, Regan Thibault, Emma Mack. Our top finishing Varsity team (11th/12th grade level) finished 3rd in Massachusetts and 11th in their division nationally. Team members were: Harsimran Multani (co-captain), Ciaran Young (co-captain), Nevin Bonak, Marshall O’Leary, Yasunari Watanabe, Owen Boucher, Gabriel Killough-Hill, Nathaniel Corp.

TEAM+S is a high school academic competition formally sponsored by the Technology Student Association. TEAM+S stands for Test of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science. It provides an opportunity to discover engineering and how knowledge in engineering can help make a difference in the world. Students work collaboratively to solve real-world engineering challenges, applying their math and science skills in practical, creative ways. Nationally, thousands of students compete every year in this fun and fast-paced competition that inspires creativity, teamwork, critical thinking and valuable insight into the world of engineering. Amherst Regional High School has been competing since 1988! ~Submitted by Patti Blauner

Due to a recent policy change, ARHS Senior folders (including academic, health, and guidance) must be held at ARHS for 3 years after graduation.  Therefore, we are unable to release these records to our current graduates as we have in the past.  Class of 2015 folders can be picked up by the graduate starting in July 2018 and will be destroyed in July 2020.

Graduates of 2010, 2011, and 2012 can pick up their academic folders at the ARHS main office.  Unclaimed class of 2010 folders will be destroyed in July 2015.

The SAT test will be given at ARHS at 8:00am on Saturday, June 6th (arrive @ 7:45am). Bring your admission ticket, two number 2 pencils with erasers, identification and an acceptable calculator. For more information on what to bring (or not), go to the College Board website. GOOD LUCK!

The African Scholars Program will host a dinner catered by Amanouz Cafe on Friday, June 12, at 6 p.m. in the ARMS cafeteria. The event will be a fundraiser for the program’s scholarship fund, which supports students who are working to participate in the group’s exchange program with schools in Senegal and The Gambia.

Amanouz Cafe, a popular Moroccan restaurant in Northampton, will provide a three-course meal including hummus and pita bread and green salad for starters; a choice of entrees; and Moroccan pastries and tea for dessert. The entree choices are bastilla (filo dough with a chicken filling) and couscous with chicken or vegetables. The dinner is $16 per person, with half portions of either couscous entree available for children 10 and under at $8.

Activities at the dinner will include viewing and discussion of a TED talk by Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Danger of a Single Story,” a West African jewelry sale, and children’s games.

Complete your order here.  Orders must be received at ARHS by Friday, June 5.

The ARPS PGO will have a Spring Public Meeting on June 17th from 6:30 – 8:00 PM at the Crocker Farm Elementary in the Community Room. Items to be discussed are: End of Year Wrap Up, Valley Gives & future other joint fundraising opportunities, voting on new representatives and other new business.  ARPS PGO is a Registered 501c3 Massachusetts Charity encompassing the individual PGOs of the ARHS, ARMS, Crocker Farm & Wildwood.The ARPS PGO mission is to support the education of children within our schools through fundraising, supplemental programming and volunteer efforts.  We help build community by fostering relationships among the schools, parents, teachers and staff. All parents and guardians are welcome to attend and participate in the meeting.

For 25 years Family Outreach of Amherst has assisted struggling families in our community. Please join them for a great party and a great cause! Last year, this event raised over $41,000 for Family Outreach.

Sip cocktails with friends on the evening of Friday, June 12th in a beautiful backyard, enjoy a feast, bid on one-of-a-kind auction items, and dance under the stars—all the while contributing to our community’s safety net for struggling families. Please RSVP by today, June 5th. To purchase tickets or to donate click here.

For further information, contact Rachel Condry at 413 548 1272, or rcondry@chd.org.

CAN – a documentary film by Pearl J. Park will be shown on Thursday, June 11 @ 7PM at the Jones Library. Can Truong, a war refugee who was among the millions of boat people who fled Vietnam in the 1970’s, was a model student, aspiring to become a doctor, when he was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder.  This remarkable film tells the story of his involvement in the mental health consumer movement, a social and political effort by people labeled with mental illnesses who believe in recovery through self-determination and peer support; and of his healing journey — trying to reconcile cultural differences with his very traditional Confucian father and attempts to make sense of his childhood wounds.   This film screening is sponsored by the Jones Library and the Coming Together Project.

A free workshop performance of the first half of The Scarlet Professor, a new opera based on the celebrated 1960 arrest and trial of Smith College professor Newton Arvin, will take place on Sunday, June 7, at 3 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall in the Arms Music Center at Amherst College. The semi-staged performance will be followed by a discussion with composer Eric Sawyer, librettist Harley Erdman and author Barry Werth, on whose book the opera is based.

The annual pancake breakfast fundraiser for Puffer’s Pond is tomorrow, Saturday, June 6th from 8:30am – 11am. All Local and Whole Grain – local flour, eggs, butter, milk, blueberries, and real maple syrup! New for 2015 – gluten free option and sausage! Thanks to the Kestrel Land Trust which has partnered with the Town of Amherst to help create conservation areas like Puffer’s Pond since 1970. Please join the fun and help preserve this wonderful recreation area. We hope to see you there! Mill River Recreation Area in North Amherst. Rain or Shine! Pancakes served from 8:30am – 11 am. Donations: $8.00 for adults, $6.00 for children and $5.00 extra for sausage. Music by Juggle Meadow String Band.

This Monday, June 8th, Bueno Y Sano will donate 50% of ALL SALES from 11am – 9pm  to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County (at the Amherst, Noho & W. Springfield locations only). Great food for a great cause! Help support CHD Big Brothers Big Sisters on Monday!

GARDEN DAYS. The Homestead garden in bloom. Take part in one of Emily Dickinson’s favorite pastimes—gardening! Join the annual effort to prepare the Museum’s historic grounds for summer. Volunteers with all levels of experience are welcome to plant, weed, and beautify under the direction of landscape historian, Marta McDowell, author of Emily Dickinson’s Gardens.

Volunteer!

To sign up to volunteer, click here!

Monday! Free jazz in the park! Have some fun with a family picnic – 5-7pm in Sweetser Park (across from black sheep) Monday, June 1 (Tuesday, June 2 rain date).

The annual Cambodian Heritage Celebration will take place on Friday, May 29, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in the Fort River Elementary School Auditorium (70 South East St). The community is invited to attend this free event.

Amherst, Pelham and Regional Public School students will showcase traditional Cambodian clothing while performing songs, stories and music. In addition, Cambodian food will be prepared and served at 1pm. For more information please call the Fort River Elementary School Main Office 413-362-1217.

Seniors:  Don’t forget tp register for Project Graduation(aka Senior Party) which starts Fri. June 5th after graduation at 11 pm and goes all night.  Start registration online at www.arhsprojectgraduation.com  You can add a guest separately until next Thursday.  There is a $35.fee for junior guest.  Seniors are not charged, but a $50.00 donation is requested.  Registration forms are also available in the office.

SENIORS!!! Don’t forget to pick up your ART! Drawings, Paintings, Prints, Photos, Sculpture, and Ceramics should be taken home before the end of the year. Work will not be stored over the summer. Don’t forget – do it today.

The exhibit will showcase juried work from all of the Art Department’s areas of study: Ceramics, Drawing, Painting, Photography, 2D & 3D Foundations, Printmaking, Art Portfolio and Sculpture.

AR[T]HS will be on display at The Eli Marsh Gallery, 105 Fayerweather Hall, Amherst College, from June 3th-June 11th. Gallery hours are from 9 am to 5 pm, every day, Sat & Sun 10-4pm.  The opening reception is on Thursday, June 4th from 5-8 pm. The opening is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

This is the seventh annual “AR[T]HS” exhibit hosted by the ARHS art department, showcases the artwork by more than 150 students. Since its inception in 2009, the AR[T]HS exhibit has grown in size and in popularity with the students and faculty at ARHS.

“It’s a excellent example of the talent and dedication the ARHS art students have. Participating in a group art exhibit at a professional art gallery can greatly impact a student or motivate another.” says Art Department Chair and Ceramics teacher, Hannah Hartl. “Alumni of the art program have gone on to pursue careers in fine art, commercial art, and other art-related fields. This acknowledgement can be the first step towards students seeing themselves as a creative minded individual.”

AR[T]HS would not be possible without the help of a committee of dedicated parents, the support of Principal Mark Jackson, and the financial support of the Parent Guardian Organization.  For more information please contact Hannah Hartl (413) 362-1759 hartlh@arps.org

“Not Just Another Pretty Picture” is a visual presentation and talk about establishing a photographic point of view and interpreting, rather than just describing, what is in front of the camera’s lens. This program is for all photo enthusiasts, regardless of prior experience. A question and answer period will follow, addressing individual ideas and photographic concerns.

A member of Moab fine art paper’s Master Photographer’s Program and an Ambassador for Manfrotto Distribution and Livebooks web design, Michael Zide’s focus has been on creating black and white fine art landscape images from Western Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard, and  the Southwest.  As an educator, he designs workshops and private tutorials, as well as presentations for speaking at venues such as the PhotoPlus International Expo in New York, B and H and Hunts Photo, and at colleges and camera clubs. Selections from this body of work are in museum, corporate, and private collections.

Please join us in the Woodbury Room of the Jones Library at 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 6, 2015. Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.

SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) is currently accepting nominations of individuals who go the extra mile to support our special education community. The Recognition of Excellence in Special Education is an important way for the community to thank those who through dedication, creativity, patience, and determination help students receiving special education to experience success. Nominations must be emailed to basilstew@comcast.net by June 1st or sent to Student Services 170 Chestnut St Amherst, MA 01002 ATTN: SEPAC. Nominations must be postmarked by June 1st.

Nomination forms can be downloaded from the SEPAC website: http://arps-sepac.info/

If your child/children receive a meal benefit in school, you’ll want to know about the Amherst Survival Center’s summer program that gives families with school-age children (5-17 years) extra food in July and August :  Kids Summer Boost

SIGN UP AT THE FOOD PANTRY:  138 Sunderland Road in North Amherst

Food Pantry Hours:  Monday, Tuesday, Friday 11am-2:45pm, Thursday 11am – 6:45pm. Please see flyer for more information.

This week you received an email for ARHS Project Graduation 2015 (formerly known as Senior Party). The email has critical and time sensitive information in it about this event. It will explain the event and it’s importance to both you and your graduating Senior. Please take a moment to read it, and take care of the 3 tasks as soon as possible. We have made it incredibly easy to do all you have to, which is REGISTER, DONATE, and VOLUNTEER. Everything now gets done through our website, or from the link in the email you received. Go to arhsprojectgraduation.com and click the links. Please note that without parent/guardian contributions, this event CANNOT happen for our seniors, so getting this done immediately is greatly appreciated! There is a suggested donation of $50 per Senior, but please just donate whatever makes sense for YOUR family. EVERY senior is invited and welcome regardless of their family’s ability to contribute.
Again, please take care of this as soon as possible! Once you have donated you still need to register your senior, and sign yourself up for a shift. Volunteer for a 2 hour shift! Without our volunteers the event doesn’t function! We really need folks to take the graveyard shifts (2-4am).

Thank you in advance!
Questions, or no way to access the website, please email: arhsprojectgraduation@gmail.com

May 20 – Early Release Day: Noon
May 20 – ARHS Math Night: 6:30 pm, Library
May 21-23 – Student Written Play Festival: 7:30pm, Auditorium
May 25 – Memorial Day : No School
May 28 – ARHS Combined Concert: 7:30pm, Auditorium
May 28 – IEP Clinic for Parent & Educators: 6-8pm, Room 13, ARHS
May 29 – Seniors Last Day!/Prom
June 1 – ARHS Jazz Fest: 6pm, Sweetser Park
June 5 – Graduation: 6pm, Mullins Center
June 17-22 – Trimester 3 Exams: See Exam Schedule here

The Emily Dickinson Poetry Walk starts at 1:00 pm on Saturday, May 16 marking the anniversary of the poet’s death (on May 15, 1886) with readings of her poetry at six historic sites in Amherst. The event is free and open to the public.

The Walk will begin at 1 p.m. in the Homestead garden and proceed through Amherst, stopping at sites significant in Dickinson’s life, and concluding at the poet’s grave in West Cemetery. At the cemetery, participants are invited to join in the traditional light-hearted toast to the poet and to read a favorite Dickinson poem. The walk will take about one hour.

This year’s selection of poems will be read by volunteers from the audience. Anyone who would like to read one of the poems should arrive at the Homestead at 12:45 p.m. to receive an assignment; poems will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wheelchair accessible parking is available at the Homestead; all other vehicles are asked to park on the street or in an Amherst College lot on Spring Street. For more information about accessibility, call 413-542-2034.

A Workshop for Parents and Educators
When: May 28th, 2015
Where: Amherst Regional High School, Room 13
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Free workshop and open to all in the public.
An IEP for My Child: Every child with a disability who receives special education services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This workshop takes parents and educators step-by-step through IEP development, including how to articulate a vision, using evaluations to write measurable goals, and measuring their child’s progress.
The last hour and a half will consist of a round table discussion with volunteer
Educational Advocates. Feel free to bring your child’s IEP if you would like!

Contact: Nancy Stewart 413-687-4255 or basilstew@comcast.net with any questions.

IEP Clinic 2015 English

Seniors! Senior Parents! Very important! You will need to pay for all the transcripts Guidance sent for you this year, unless you are on free or reduced lunch. To find out how much you owe, go into Naviance, under the Colleges tab click on “Transcripts” (on the left), then choose “View status of my transcript requests.” This will tell you how much you owe. Bring (or mail) a check made out to ARHS to the Guidance Office. They take cash too! These fees need to be paid before the end of May.

Here are some easy steps to join the national “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive this Saturday.
1) put canned unexpired non-perishable food in a bag by your mailbox Saturday morning,
2) your letter carrier will pick it up that day,
3) it will be delivered to local pantries, including our’s!
The Amherst Survival Center’s Food Pantry receives food donations that are collected from the following towns: Amherst, Belchertown, Hadley, Pelham, South Deerfield and Sunderland.
Suggested unexpired items for donating can be found on our website at: http://amherstsurvival.org/donate/food-donations/
Personal care items are also welcome!

CATS the musical, let the “Memory” live again! Friday & Saturday May 15 & 16 Come support fellow students Kira Cairn, Grace Bertrand, Shannon Lambert, Liam Ashburn, Abigail Morris, Tess Trobaugh and many others. The magical legendary Broadway hit by Andrew Lloyd Webber, ran for 21 years in London and 18 years on Broadway will come alive on the Academy of Music stage by the talented Starlight’s Youth Theatre. This song and dance masterpiece of second chances and unconditional love is based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and it tells of Jellicle cats and the quest to be the lucky one who will ascend to “the Heaviside Layer.” This show is the purrfect opportunity for the entire family to create a “Memory” that will live forever. Tickets $10 students & seniors $14 adults available at the door http://www.academyofmusictheatre.com/temp-calendar/cats/ Questions: starlights.yt@gmail.com May 15, 7:00pm; May 16, 2:00pm & 7:00pm.

The annual Cambodian Heritage Celebration will take place on Friday, May 29, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. in the Fort River Elementary School Auditorium (70 South East St). The community is invited to attend this free event.

Amherst, Pelham and Regional Public School students will showcase traditional Cambodian clothing while performing songs, stories and music. In addition, Cambodian food will be prepared and served at 1pm. For more information please call the Fort River Elementary School Main Office 413-362-1217.

The ARHS musical this year is Hairspray, and will be performed on March 5, 6, and 7th at 7:30pm each evening in the ARHS auditorium.  There will also be a family oriented matinee on Saturday, March 7th at 2pm.  Tickets can be purchased in the ARHS cafeteria.  Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors/high school students, and $5 for elementary students.  You can reserve tickets via email at arhsmusicals@gmail.com

David Auburn’s Pulitzer-winner Proof will be performed this weekend, Thurs-Sat at ARHS at 7:30pm.  The student-directed play is a full-length production that is directed, designed, built, and performed entirely by ARHS students with no intervening adults.  This year’s production is directed by Sajo Jefferson, stage managed by Emma Thibault and tech direction from Kendall Daprich.  Tickets are in limited supply and are sold at ARHS lunches.  Remaining tickets will be sold at the door.  Ticket $5 students/$8 adults.  Don’t miss it.

We are nearing the date for one of the best events of the year in Amherst -Monte Carlo Night! It will be Saturday, March 14, from 7:30 to midnight at Valentine Hall, Amherst College. It is a lot of fun (friends, after-dinner food, live music, gambling, awesome prizes) and it is a great way to raise money for sports teams at ARHS and ARMS, as well as the Hurricane Boosters. For every $25 ticket sold, $20 can be designated to go to a team of the buyer’s choice, making Monte Carlo Night the easiest way all year for sports teams to raise money!

You Too Can Have a Future In Science, Technology, Engineering and Math! Have your students join in a discussion with a diverse group of UMASS students about succeeding in high school, choosing the right college, working in labs and picking a degree.

Where: The ARHS Library
When: Thursday, March 26th
Time: 5—7:30 pm
DINNER INCLUDED
**Students should sign up on the sheet in the ARHS library.

The No. 2 ARHS Boys Basketball team beat Chicope (No. 3), 73-63,  in the Western Mass Div. I Semifinals this past Monday at Central High School. Read more about the game on MassLive. The team will now face No. 1 Putnam TONIGHT, March 6th at 7:45 pm at the Curry Hicks Cage at UMass. MIAA Ticket prices for the finals are as follows: Adults : $10 & Students : $7

Come out and support our ‘Canes!