For many middle and high school students, the bar is set high for getting good grades, making the team, and landing the lead role in a play. Recognizing that, a library in western Massachusetts recently set the bar really low, offering a carefree event of making bad art.

Many of the photos in Pablo Delano’s exhibit at Hampshire College are more than 100 years old. They depict the island’s lush flora and fauna, and its people — as farmers, beauty queens, jail inmates — and in most cases, there’s some connection to the U.S. government.

From the middle of UMass toward the center of town in Amherst, Massachusetts, you may have seen some unexpected objects near walkways or up on a grassy hill.

An investigation has found that seven former faculty members at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville sexually abused students over a 23-year period.

It’s been a year since an incident in Claremont involving the near-hanging of a young, biracial boy made national news. This week, NHPR is looking at how that event impacted local residents, including the then-superintedent of schools, Middleton McGoodwin. As he tells it, the incident forced him to reflect uncomfortably on his own history with race.