Amherst Regional High School (Massachusetts)
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| Amherst Regional High School | |
| Address | |
| 21 Mattoon Street Amherst, Massachusetts, 01002, United States |
|
| Website | |
| http://www.arps.org/hs | |
| Information | |
| Superintendent | Jere Hochman |
| Principal | Mark Jackson |
| Vice principal | Marta Guevara Annie Leonard Bill Wehrli |
| School type | Public High School |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Area | Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, Shutesbury |
| Mascot | Hurri the Cane |
| Team name | Huricanes |
| Colors | Maroon and White |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Enrollment | 1,300 |
Amherst Regional High School (ARHS) is a secondary school in Amherst, Massachusetts for students in grades 9–12. Its official colors are maroon and white. ARHS's current principal is Mark Jackson.
Contents |
[edit] Academics
Amherst Regional High School runs on a trimester system. Students take five courses per trimester: three to four are academics, and one to two are electives. Amherst Regional High School is the only public secondary school in the country to offer a course on Gay and Lesbian Literature, and the only high school in the near area to offer a course in Stained Glass.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
[edit] Sports
The school's sports teams are all known as "The Hurricanes". ARHS is one of many high schools in Massachusetts with a nationally-ranked Ultimate program. The boys' and girls' Ultimate teams have both won the national championship several times, including the girl's program winning the national championship 5 consecutive times. The girls' cross-country team has won 11 consecutive Western Massachusetts titles. The boys’ cross-country team has also been dominant in the region for several years, winning six of the last seven Western Mass Championships. The Girls ultimate team has won 5 consecutive national championships.
The 1992–1993 “Lady Hurricanes” girls' basketball team, which won the state championships, inspired the book In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais. The boys basketball team also has a 2003 state title.
[edit] Clubs
ARHS has over 65 clubs, ranging in topic from anime to Seinfeld to rocketry to "Special Patrol Against Frowns" (SPAF), a group devoted to increasing the happiness of the student body.
[edit] Survival Living
While not technically an extracurricular activity, since the class is taken for credit, ARHS is one of the few schools in the nation to offer a Wilderness Survival program. The class meets through the spring semester, and covers subjects such as orienteering, wilderness first aid, emergency shelters, wild edibles, and emergency fire-building (typically, students are warned that anytime there is rain during class, the scheduled class will be replaced with a fire-building class).
Former teacher Charlie Camp started the program. Exercises include an overnight hike with the whole class, a two-day orienteering campout in pairs, and a three-day practicum where students simulate being lost in the wilderness alone. Many former students return to help teach the class or aid with the major exercises, and often describe the class as a highly formative event in their lives.
[edit] Alumni
Famous alumni of ARHS include:
- Thomas Bezucha (class of '82), film director and writer of Big Eden and The Family Stone
- Eric Mabius (class of '89) Actor best known as Daniel Meade on Ugly Betty, and also seen on The L Word and The O.C.
- J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. and other bands
- Gil Penchina, CEO of Wikia
- Uma Thurman (attended but did not graduate from ARHS)
- Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman, co-founders of govWorks.com, subject of the documentary Startup.com
- Jamila Wideman, former WNBA basketball player
- Amory Lovins, sustainability guru and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute.
[edit] Controversies
The town of Amherst, situated in an area surrounded by five colleges, prides itself on being particularly socially conscientious. Because of this, issues ranging from First Amendment rights to race relations have a habit of repeatedly cropping up in Amherst Regional High School. Recently it has experienced a wave of controversies over several different issues, many of which have helped put it in the national spotlight.
In 1990, Principal Ilene Levitt instituted a sexual harassment policy, among the first of its kind for a high school in the nation. The policy banned "staring or leering with sexual overtones", among other acts; it received significant media attention. [1]
In 1999, ARHS's school production of West Side Story was cancelled when several Puerto Rican students and parents complained about what they perceived as stereotypical representations in the musical. The musical split both students and teachers, and put ARHS's superintendent Gus Sayer under fire for his stand that "No group, neither in the majority nor in the minority, should have the ability to censor the decisions our community’s educators make about what to teach, what to read, or what to produce on the stage."[citation needed] Internationally known conductor Jessel Murray, who had served as the choral instructor and director of the school musical, left the United States entirely and returned to his native Trinidad as a result of the debate and cancellation.[1]
[edit] Principal Myers
In 2002, Principal Stephen Myers resigned after allegations that he had a student show him his nipples, and invited the student over to his house. Though Myers claimed the incident was harmless and he only looked at the boy's nipples due to the student's concerns of being teased about his breast size, the controversy was enormous, with many parents demanding he be removed from his position. Of much speculation was that Myers was unmarried and had an adopted son.[citation needed]
As allegations grew, previously overlooked allegations of Myers' sexual misconduct surfaced from his time as a Principal at a school in Santa Cruz. A Santa Cruz police report tells of two incidents of alleged sexual misconduct between Myers and students.[citation needed] The first incident occurred in 1994, when a Child Protective Services worker reported that a parent had discovered pictures of students in their underwear or bathing suits.[citation needed] The police determined that the pictures were taken as part of a school activity and no crime had taken place. The second incident came in late December 1995, when a former alleged molestation victim of Myers contacted the police due to Myers' attempts to adopt a 4-year-old Romanian boy.[citation needed] During the subsequent investigation, Myers admitted to the 1980 incident.[citation needed] He also admitted that he had committed a sexual act with a teenage boy during a School trip to South Africa. However, neither of these cases could be prosecuted, as the 1980s case exceeded the statute of limitations, and the 1991 incident occurred outside of U.S. jurisdiction.[citation needed] Legal rules prevented the police from making these incidents public, however, the fact that Myers was hired without a more extensive background check created a public backlash over the Amherst school board's failure.[citation needed]
Also according to the police report, Myers had previously admitted he was sexually attracted to teenage boys, and had been in psychotherapy to control his impulses.[citation needed] He also let police know of an incident where he had shared a bed with a 14-year-old student during a school trip to Los Angeles, though he said there had been no sexual contact.[citation needed] The boy confirmed that the incident had been non-sexual in nature.[citation needed] Then, in the summer of 1996, police began looking at new allegations that Myers had molested the 4-year-old boy he had tried to adopt. The adoption, being conducted by a Pennsylvania-based agency, had been scrapped after the investigation six months earlier.[citation needed] But when police learned of troubling comments the boy had made to his foster mother about Myers, they tried to reopen the investigation. That attempt was dropped at the request of the 4-year-old’s foster parents, however, who were worried about the emotional well-being of the child.[citation needed]
Though Myers maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal in Amherst, and he was never actually charged with a crime, he still resigned from his position due to the public humiliation and backlash from the incident.[citation needed]
[edit] The Vagina Monologues
In 2004 Amherst Regional High School received international press coverage for their decision to allow students to perform The Vagina Monologues. Although many adults within and outside of the community felt that The Vagina Monologues dealt with inappropriate material for teenagers, some ARHS students felt that the performance had relevance to their lives. Appearing on NBC News, 17-year-old Kristin Tyler, who helped organize the event, stated that "one in five girls in high school are either sexually or physically abused on a date."
In 2007 The Vagina Monologues were performed by Amherst Regional High School students again. Women's Rights Club, founded in fall 2006 by Sophie Rabinovitz, '07, sponsored the show. After seeking permission from principal Mark Jackson to perform the monologues in their high school auditorium, their request was denied. Jackson cited reasons such as the town's looming budget cuts, previous controversy and negative publicity associated with the show, as well as lack of interest by teachers and staff to help organize the performance. The members of the club persisted and succeeded in securing the Northampton Center for the Arts for their show. The Vagina Monologues took place on February 15th, 17th and 18th. The Saturday and Sunday night shows both sold out, and the club succeeded in raising several thousand dollars to donate to local women's charities. Amherst students plan to put on another production of the show in February of 2008. Mycal Carter a Freshman hopes that the principal Will appeal his decision next year. "We pride ourselves for having something few high schools has, and just look at how women are portrayed today?."
'Vagina Monologues' play moves off Amherst Regional campus (The Amherst Bulletin)
[edit] The "Freshmen" Decision
In 2005 the word "freshman" was deemed by then assistant principal Marta Guevarra to no longer be acceptable for use in the school. The term was deemed sexist because it contains the word "man" and therefore implies that all students in the 9th grade are men. Opponents of the decision assert that it is unreasonable because the word "freshman" has morphed outside of the bounds of possibly meaning "fresh man". Although the administration persists on using the term "9th graders", the change had little effect on the student body. In response to the "freshman" controversy, a satirical letter was written to the administration by a student claiming that the school should also change the name "High School" as it oppresses short people, and suggests that the students are always intoxicated.
[edit] Ronald Garney
Ronald Garney, a teacher of 9th grade science, was arrested November 28, 2006 after Amherst Police raided his apartment, on the grounds of possession of child pornography. According to the police, three CDs, respectively labeled 'boys', 'girls', and 'boys and girls', were found in Garney's apartment, featuring children ages 2-12. It was reported that one of these discs contained 56 videos of child pornography. Garney admitted that he had been watching child pornography for 20 years, but police have not yet found any evidence that children from the local school have been involved. Garney has been banned from the school property and forbidden to have contact with anyone under the age of 18 (minors). Since the arrest, numerous ARHS alumni have offered detailed accounts of Garney's inappropriate behavior in the classroom, including a habit of rubbing his genitals against a desk while lecturing and making female students uncomfortable with his proximity and by frequently appearing to look down their shirts. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.tt/archives/2004-05-04/features2.html
- ^ http://www.eyewitnessnewstv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5742685&nav=F2DO
- ^ http://www.arps.org/hs/ParentLetterNov28.html
- ^ http://www.arps.org/hs/Garney.html
- ^ http://www.arps.org/hs/November28Letter.html
- ^ http://www.gazettenet.com/newsroom/index.cfm/2006/11/28/Amherst-Regional-High-teacher-arrested-on-child-pornography-possession-charges
- ^ http://www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/storytmp.cfm?id_no=19222
