School news: Week of July 4
USC teacher selected
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Upper St. Clair German teacher Kristin Weaver has been selected to participate in a panel discussion for high school and college students interested in pursuing a career in teaching German. The panel is one of several events sponsored by the Goethe Institut and the University of Pittsburgh Department of German as part of a Karrieretag (career day). The event will be held on Sept. 26 at the University of Pittsburgh.
USC published authors
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Upper St. Clair High School freshman Emily Rhodes and junior Jacqueline LeKachman can add published author to their list of accomplishments. Writings by both students were among the top-rated submissions in the Ralph Munn Creative Writing Contest, sponsored by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
Jacqueline LeKachman
Emily’s poem titled, “Carrion,” and Jacqueline’s short prose, “The Voicemail,” will be published in the “2018 Ralph Munn Creative Writing Anthology,” a book of creative work distributed to all Allegheny County public and school libraries.
All writers, including Emily and Jacqueline, will be invited to the Teen Media Awards, a special event celebrating the work of local teens on Aug. 11. The creative writing contest awards first place winners in each category with $250 and second place winners with $100.
USC senior headed to Russia
Upper St. Clair High School senior Jonah Auslander was recently awarded a National Security Language Initiative for Youth scholarship. Jonah will participate in the summer NSLI-Y program, administered by American Cultural Exchange Service, in Moscow, Russia.
Jonah, along with 14 other American high school students from across the United States, will spend six weeks in Moscow studying the Russian language intensively while living with a Russian host family and participating in local cultural activities.
Jonah has participated in several internationally focused activities including the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh’s Global Leadership Certificate Program as well as the Upper St. Clair High School Global Fluency Certificate Program. He also completed an apprenticeship through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in international relations and has completed a class on intelligence and national security through American University.
This fall Jonah will attend the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, Bloomington.
The NSLI-Y Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is a U.S. government initiative that prepares American citizens to be leaders in a global world.
Students make an impact
Upper St. Clair students recently collected 6,599 food and clothing items and nearly $1,250 to benefit the Greater Washington County Food Bank.
Conceptual Algebra students at Fort Couch Middle School and Upper St. Clair High School teamed up for the annual community service project. Coordinating the outreach effort were Shannon Strayer, high school math teacher, and Michelle Senneway, Fort Couch math teacher.
In addition to collecting food and clothing, students spent time volunteering in various capacities at the food bank. They tended to the gardens, organized food donations by type, packed boxes of food items for distribution and sorted clothing in the thrift store.
This marked the seventh year that the Conceptual Algebra classes have collaborated on a food drive project. Teachers find creative ways to link the service project to mathematical concepts in the classroom.
Last year’s effort resulted in donations of 4,326 food/clothing items and $700 in monetary donations.
German Club awards
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The Bethel Park High School German Club bestowed three academic awards for the 2017-18 school year to sophomore Lily Wilson.
Lily earned the Dietrich Award of Academic Excellence for having the highest cumulative academic achievements of any Bethel Park High School German student during the 2017-18 school year. She also received a special certificate recognizing her as this year’s most outstanding member of the Bethel Park High School Chapter of the Delta Epsilon Phi German National Honor Society.
Lily also was the recipient of a one-week scholarship to study German this summer at the Millersville University German Language Camp. She earned this scholarship in recognition of her enthusiasm and commitment to the Bethel Park High School German Club.
German Honor Society
The Bethel Park High School Chapter of the Delta Epsilon Phi German National Honor Society inducted 19 new members.
Inducted this year were juniors Jazmin Lizarraga and Cullen Stewart; sophomores Jacob Bauer, Marissa Disori, Patrick May and Alex Murphy; and freshmen Abby Cannon, Lucia Coccagno, Abby Diel, Brianna Hayes, Johnatan Ivanov, Lanie Kauric, Courtney Kiesling, Allison Kurtz, Anthony Martinelli, Samantha Stephenson, Olivia Tabler, Kerrianne Troesch and Kate Wholey.
To be eligible for induction, students must have completed at least three semesters of German study with a minimum 3.6 GPA, including at least one non-weighted “A” grade. They must also maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA in all other courses and must demonstrate academic integrity as well as a continued commitment to the study of German at Bethel Park High School.
The students are taught by Bethel Park High School German Teacher Christopher Tobias.
Programming finalists
Fort Couch Middle School eighth-graders Alex VanHoorelbeke, Jackson VanHoorelbeke and Akash Vajjala were recently named finalists in the Alice Challenge, a computer programming competition for students in grades 5-12.
More than 70 students participated in the inaugural Alice Challenge, which was open to all students in grades 5-12 in the Pittsburgh region. Students could participate as individuals or in a team of up to four students.
A finalists showcase and award ceremony to honor winners with prizes were held on June 5. The Alice Challenge is part of the 10th anniversary celebration of Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture.