School News – June 4
Registration is currently underway in the Canon-McMillan School District for the 2014-2015 school year.
Six area high school students were winners in the National Merit $2,500 Merit Scholarship Program. The winners are the finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies:
• Jarrod Cingel, Bethel Park High School, with a probable career field in computer science.
• Joncarlo Patton, South Fayette High School, career field in medicine.
• Elizabeth Rose Wildenhain, Seton LaSalle High School, biology.
• Henry Giltz, Seton LaSalle High School, law.
• Chandrasekar Muthiah, Keystone Oaks High School, medicine.
• Abigail Xie, Mt. Lebanon High School, biomedicine.
Three seniors at Mt. Lebanon High School and one senior from Seton-La Salle High School were announced as among 2,500 winners of the National Merit Scholarships financed by the colleges and universities. The winners were selected from the list of finalists in the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Program. The scholarships provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study.
Selected locally were Cameron William Cox of Pittsburgh, a student at Seton-La Salle Regional High School. He was named a National Merit Baylor University Scholarship winner. Cox expects to major in engineering at the university in Waco, Texas.
The three seniors from Mt. Lebanon High School are Stephen E. Helmeci, who plans on majoring in journalism at the University of Southern California; Alexa Wayland Rhodes, who will also attend the University of Southern California where she plans to major in media; and Alexander J. Kurland, who will attend Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
The NAMM Foundation recognizes the Mt. Lebanon School District for its outstanding commitment to music education with a Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) designation. Mt. Lebanon joins 376 districts across the country to receive the prestigious distinction in 2014. This is the seventh year in a row that the Mt. Lebanon School District has received this honor.
Bethel Park High School junior Steven Davis finished in Fourth Place on the Westinghouse Science Honors Institute’s Voluntary End of Program Exam and earned $500 for his efforts.
Steven scored a 96.28 out of a possible 110 points on the exam.
Additionally, Steven and 14 other Bethel Park High School juniors received certificates from Westinghouse for successfully completing the program. They are: Amrita Beaudine, Colton Blair, Bryce Carter, Aaron Coplan, Jake Eichenlaub, Lauren Hensler, Emily Kukan, Tayler McGurk-Mannarino, Brendan Moorhead, Jordan Myers, Keith Powell, Mackenzie Stark, Vincent Tavoletti and Harrison Zelt.
Bethel Park High School Physics Teacher Lee Cristofano coordinates the program for the school district.
The Blackwood Theater Organ Society has awarded scholarships to two local high school seniors pursuing a college degree in instrumental music performance. The students performed at a free recital at the Blackwood Estate in Harrisville, Pa., May 18.
Eli Naragon (double bass) of Mt. Lebanon attends the Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh. A member of his high school jazz band, Eli has participated in the PMEA Orchestra and Festivals and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. He is a bassist at the Carnegie Mellon Summer Pre-College Jazz Program and is a winner of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award.
Jonah Trout (bass trombone) of Canonsburg attends Canon-McMillan High School. He is an active member of his High School Brass Ensemble, Marching and Concert Bands and Musical Pit Orchestra. Outside of school, he plays with the River City Youth Brass Band, Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra and Pittsburgh Youth Symphony and Chamber Orchestras.
Pennsylvania American Water awarded Stream of Learning Scholarships to Jamie Cavrak and Eric Kamincki of Bethel Park High School; Zien Deng of Chartiers Houston High School; Connor McCormick of Upper St. Clair High School; Angela Urban of Mt. Lebanon High School; Allison Vogrig of Canon-McMillan High School; Elizabeth Wildenhain of Seton-LaSalle Catholic High School; and Melissa Zender of Chartiers Valley High School. This is the fifth year that Pennsylvania American Water offered the program to support outstanding students within its service areas who are charting a course of study that is critical to the water and wastewater industry, with each winning student receiving a $2,000 scholarship.
Alexis Mayrann Taylor, an eighth-grader at St. Louise de Marillac School, received a $1,000 scholarship from Educational Outfitters as credit toward her 2014-15 tuition. Sara Szymanski, a freshman at Bishop Canevin High School, is one of three runner-ups and received a $500 scholarship towards her 2014-15 tuition from Educational Outfitters.
Dr. Gary Cartwright, an orthodontist with offices McMurray and Bethel Park, recently awarded four $500 scholarships to four high school seniors. Each year for the past 15 years, Cartwright conducts an essay contest for all past and present patients who are furthering their education. The winners included Emma Sebastian of Upper St. Clair, daughter of Gerald and Stacie Sebastian, who will attending Juniata College; Brittany Crouse of Caononsburg, daughter of David and Nicolle Crouse, who will attend California University of Pennsylvania; Mukunda Aithal of Canonsburg, son of Hari and Arpana Aithal, who will attend Purdue University; and Suhas Hoysala of McMurray, son of Subramanya and Nikhila Hoysala, who will attend Ohio State University.
The Aubrey Rose Foundation and its social enterprise, Writely Sew, are hosting a nationwide fundraising challenge to find the nation’s top college student, who will win $1 million.
The challenge runs through Dec. 31, 2015, and will be divided into six academic semesters, three a year for two years.
Students will create and execute their own plans to raise development dollars for the Aubrey Rose Foundation. The individual who generates the greatest development gift to the Aubrey Rose Foundation over the length of the challenge will receive a $1 million annuity. The winner will be determined on Dec. 31, 2015. In addition, the top fundraiser for each of the six semesters will be awarded with a $100,000 annuity at the end of each semester.
For official rules, visit aubreyrosefoundation.org/DreamsToDollars.