HAMPDEN - Acclaimed jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen is scheduled to appear in residency next week with Hampden Academy jazz students as part of the Jazz Residency Initiative, a non-profit organization which coordinates artists-in-residency with schools.

Instructor donates attendance fee to the hungry

HAMPDEN - Attending Yoga in Hampden can benefit more than your physical and mental health. It can also help the Hampden Food Cupboard. Instructor Julie Morse has been charging participants $1 per class, an incremental amount by many people's standards, but one that can make a huge difference when it comes to collecting non-perishables for area food cupboards.

"I make $8, $10, $12 a class. I can't make money off of it, it wouldn't be right. That's not why I'm teaching yoga," explained Morse. "When I started doing yoga on a daily basis, the physical and emotional changes were amazing and allowed me to see the pain of the world differently. It made me want to change what I do on a daily basis."

New school year begins with a brand new high school

HAMPDEN - It's been an exciting start to the school year for high-schoolers living in SAD 22 who began the 2012-2013 school year in a brand new building off Western Avenue. The new school has been in the works for some time, and now its hallways and classrooms, filled with fresh paint and supplies, are finally bustling with students, staff and faculty.

"The whole building is just fabulous," said Principal Ruey Yehle. "I think the opportunities this building will bring to our students are definitely an improvement over the opportunities the old building brought them."