The White River Valley Herald

Alumni Part of New Team at RUHS

15 New Hires, Alums Find Spots In Randolph Athletics, Theater


More than a dozen new teachers and staff members will be joining the team at Randolph Union High School this fall.

According to co-principal Caty Sutton, the 15 new hires at RUHS will be complemented by a number of other changes, particularly as some teachers and staff shift from one role to another.

Among those are Jason Finley, who will be joining RUHS as the director of career pathways and workforce development; Alyssa Matz, who will become the director of targeted supports, and Betsy Shands, who will be serving as the seventh-grade math teacher after migrating from the Braintree Elementary School.

Other changes include bringing aboard Colin Andrzejczyk on a full-time basis with RUHS as restorative practice coordinator and student-assistance counsellor.

Also new to the school’s roster of teachers are Spanish and world-language teacher Bob Bartlett, long-term physical education substitute Robbie Boody, social studies teacher Adin Buchanan, eighth-grade English teacher Emily Couture, special educator Andrew Glynn, social studies teacher David Hershey, multi-tiered systems of support coach Sean Robinson, Innovation Center and STEM instructor Andrew Scott, and visual arts teacher Lindsay Wheeler.

Welcomed Back

As so many new faces settle in for the coming school year, Sutton said she’s especially excited to welcome back two former students to the school—both of whom have had successes further afield than Randolph, but are enthusiastic about returning to their roots in the White River Valley.

Stepping into the role formerly held by Brian Rainville, West Brookfield native Lauren McKeon will be the school’s next performing arts teacher after spending 15 years in California, where she worked as dancer, set builder, costume designer, and curator. She also did a stint performing at the sprawling Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Time of Now” festival.

“I believe theater is inherently inclusive, that there is a space for everyone, and I aim to keep Murray auditorium a healthy, productive, and joyous space for all,” McKeon wrote in a post on the OSSD website. “I am currently building a house on the land I grew up on and am obsessed with my dog Francis who will not be allowed in the auditorium.”

Also returning to RUHS is incoming athletic and activities director Nick Bent, a Randolph native who graduated from the school in 2009. After graduation, Bent went on to receive a degree in sports administration from Castleton University.

Bent returns to the district after working for a few years in Morrisville, where both he and his wife nurtured hopes of eventually returning to the Randolph area.

Explaining that he felt “ecstatic” about coming back to Randolph, Bent cited the positive role models of Larry Bale and Bruce Viens as examples of athletic personnel he’d like to emulate.

“I’ve always loved this community, I think it’s a good fit and I’ve always wanted to move back,” he said this week, noting he was excited for “anything and everything” to do with the Randolph athletics and activities that he’ll be responsible for scheduling and administrating—especially if it involves the broader Randolph community turning out to support its high school athletes.

“I’m just excited to feel the kids having fun in athletics,” Bent said, adding that much of the fall and winter sports schedules were already in place.

According to co-principal Caty Sutton, the caliber of the new staff and faculty—representing roughly 20% of the Orange Southwest Supervisory District’s overall workforce— is indicative of the community’s ability to draw highly capable educators, despite an ongoing staffing shortage across the educational sector.

“I consider us really lucky to fill positions and fill them well,” she said, noting that the school had filled all of its staffing vacancies. “I’m really just looking forward to getting staff back in the building— and seeing students! We’ve really missed them.”