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School news: Week of May 19

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Bethel Park High School French II Honors students Megan Cunningham, Toyosi Egbebi, Sadie Fedor, Riley Hunter, Anna Rosemeier, Allison Scarlett and Isabella Zallo were seven of the new inductees into the French National Honor Society.

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Receiving a Project SEARCH certificate on behalf of Bethel Park School District are special education teacher Julie Hernandez, left, and director of special education Lori Sutton.

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Presenting a certificate of appreciation to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Kimberly Walsh-Turner, center, are David Muench, Independence Middle School principal, and Donna Cook, Bethel Park School Board president.

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Presenting a Certificate of Appreciation to Dave Houghtelling of the Grainger Foundation is Donna Cook, left, Bethel Park School Board president, and Lisa Yost, Bethel Park School District elementary gifted coordinator.

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Christopher Toth, left, and Austin Linz

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Robert Vogel, right, is congratulated by Mt. Lebanon High School Principal Brian McFeeley.

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Sarah Shaw

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Richa Mahajan

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Julia Brubach

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Christian Chiu

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Nicholas Devlin

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Eva Twedt, left, and Leona Chen

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Catherine Sandford

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Upper St. Clair schools donated a total of 4,425 pounds of foods and other items to the South Hills Interfaith Movement.

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Lucas Gillespie

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Upper St. Clair FBLA students

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Boyce Middle School was recently awarded a $1,062.30 grant.

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Shanthi Krishnaswamy, Upper St. Clair High School

Bethel Park

• Bethel Park High School inducted 25 new members into the French National Honor Society and recognized 37 returning members, during its sixth annual Induction Ceremony, held on April 24.

Newly inducted students include French IV juniors Kevin Kerr and Aiden Moncavage; French III senior Waylin Robinson and sophomores Samantha Heiser, Kylie Jones and Rylee Turoski; French II Honors sophomores Tia Kean and Marguerite Young, and freshmen Megan Cunningham, Toyosi Egbebi, Sadie Fedor, Briauna Harris, Riley Hunter, Anna Rosemeier, Allison Scarlett and Isabella Young; and French II junior Naomi Yarroll, sophomore Kadin Gray and freshmen Stefania DiPrampero, Alexandros Fekos, Isabelle Finnegan, Tesa Glasser, Emma Karstensen, Max Radcliffe and Claudia Shrager.

Returning members include AP French V seniors Joseph Bilski, Lori Gatz, Patra Hsu, Samantha Huwe, Vanessa Vargo, Kara Wentz and Jenelle Wu; French IV Honors seniors Rachel Anischenko, Desiree Saether and Anton Yanovich, juniors Jessica Ashton, Madison Becker, Lindsay Cook, Cameron Fondelier, Miranda Johns, Jordan Rogers, Ruth Rubican, Jaxon Stewart, Tianna Torles, Haley Zevola and sophomore Emily Smith.

Also recognized as returning members were French III Honors junior Caleb Shook and sophomores Weeam Boumaza, Kevin Collins, Madelyn Hoffmann, Natalie Manns, Abigail Phillips, Tobias Roule, Delaney Thomas, Rachel Toth, Marissa Wycinsky and Evan Zelt; French III junior Karen Cristina Juarez and sophomores Rachel Fulton, Amanda Malloy, Hannah Ulakovic and Michael Walsh.

Newly inducted students received a certificate. Returning students received pins, and all seniors received Honor Cords.

Students who maintain at least a 90 percent average in French during the 2018-2019 school year were eligible for induction.

The students are taught by Bethel Park High School French Teachers Tracy McCoy and Rachael Smith.

• Thirteen Bethel Park High School German students were inducted into the Bethel Park High School’s Chapter of the Delta Epsilon Phi German National Honor Society: freshmen Kaylin Bauer, Zach Bradford, Isabel Burke, Nick Como, Owen Dale, Colin Downing, Willow Hernishin, Mark Sigafoos and Shelby Yonish; and sophomores Sawyer D’Andrea, Abby Karstensen, Layne Simko and Ben Sommer.

To be eligible for induction, students must have a grade-point average of at least 3.6 in German and 3.0 in all other courses, and must demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the study of German at Bethel Park High School.

The students are taught by Christopher Tobias.

• Project SEARCH at UPMC Mercy recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a celebration at the hospital that included recognition of Bethel Park School District.

The program, a collaboration among UPMC, the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Office of Intellectual Disability, Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, provides a yearlong job training program to eligible high school students, with more than 50 percent of the program’s students obtaining employment at a UPMC facility.

Over the years, Bethel Park has had three students – Emily Sullivan (2014-2015), Ellie McGregor (2017-2018) and Andrew Dixon (2018-2019) – selected for participation, and next year Hannah Conroy will be a part of the 2019-2020 program.

At the anniversary celebration, Project SEARCH recognized the 30 school districts that have sent students to the program.

• Bethel Park Board School Board presented a certificate of appreciation to Dottore Companies LLC in recognition of the donation of materials from the former Art Institute of Pittsburgh to the Independence Middle School Library and family and consumer science cepartment.

Items received by the library include more than 100 books, book processing materials, a spiral binding machine and materials, an electric pencil sharpener, two reception chairs, 13 rolling folding chairs, and a laser scanner.

The family and consumer science department received professional dress forms, an ironing board, a professional steaming iron, fabric, trim, shears, thread, fashion decorations, wire supply baskets, bulletin boards, and chairs and tables.

• Bethel Park School District has received $5,000 from the Grainger Foundation, an independent, private foundation, in support of the district’s mission to lead an educational partnership with the community, maintaining an environment that challenges all students to reach their potential as lifelong learners and responsible members of society.

The donation will be used to purchase materials to create a STEAM Coding and Robotics Mobile Lab for the elementary gifted program that can be used at all five Bethel Park elementary schools. Dave Houghtelling, Branch Manager of W.W. Grainger’s Pittsburgh location, recommended the donation.

• The Bethel Park High School Music Department earned 15 awards during its annual spring trip, this year to the Festivals of Music in Chicago.

The Jazz Ensemble earned a First Place Superior Award, Best Section Award for the trombones and the Best Overall Jazz Ensemble Award. The Symphonic Band earned a First Place Superior Award and the Best Overall Band Award.

The Top 21 Choir earned a First Place Superior Award and was named the Best Overall Specialty Choir Award in the Jazz Choir event, as well as a Second Place Superior Award in the Chamber Choir event.

Earning First Place Superior Awards were the Concert Band, Bethettes, Majorettes and Drum Line. The Concert Orchestra earned a First Place Excellent Award and the Chamber Orchestra earned a Second Place Excellent Award.

The students as a whole received the Best Mannered Award. They are taught by high school orchestra director Stephanie Glover, choral director Todd Kuczawa and band director Chad Thompson.

• The Rotary Club of Bethel Park-Upper St. Clair presented Technology Awards to Bethel Park High School senior Christopher Toth and junior Austin Linz.

The awards were presented at a dinner held on May 2 at St. Clair Country Club. Every year, the Rotary recognizes students who have demonstrated academic excellence in technology education classes.

Christopher is a student in Brad Kszastowski’s class, and Austin is a student in Art Smock’s class.

Mt. Lebanon

• At the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and NAFME Conference held in April, Mt. Lebanon High School Orchestra Director Robert Vogel was awarded the 2019 Pennsylvania-Delaware String Teachers Association “Orchestra Director of the Year” for outstanding achievement as an orchestra conductor and contributions to the string profession.

The candidates for this award, according to the PADESTA website, “must have demonstrated outstanding achievement as an orchestra teacher and conductor, resulting in major advancement of that candidate’s program with documentation of unusual success.”

The PADESTA chapter of the American String Teachers Association represents hundreds of school and private teachers, professional performers, college faculty, and students from across the Pennsylvania-Delaware region.

• At the April 15 Mt. Lebanon School Board meeting, Sarah Shaw was approved as the new principal of Jefferson Middle School.

Shaw has been the principal of Jefferson Elementary School for the past five years. Prior to coming to Mt. Lebanon, she was an elementary principal in the Cornell School District. She will take over the helm from current JMS principal, Kelly Szesterniak, who will be leaving Mt. Lebanon to return to her hometown in Wisconsin as principal of a middle school there.

Shaw’s official start date is July 1, but she will be working on a seamless transition for JMS students and staff over the next few weeks.

Shaw has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University. She earned a master’s degree, K-12 principal’s certification, and a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.

Upper St. Clair

• The Upper St. Clair community raised $3,358 to benefit the Tree of Life Synagogue victims and their families. The money, which will be sent to the Jewish Federation, were raised through the sale of Kindness Matters shirts and sweatshirts designed by an Upper St. Clair High School alumna and produced by the school’s SHOP@USC program.

The Kindness Matters artwork, featuring a line drawing of the Pittsburgh skyline, was created by Catherine Sandford, a 2018 Upper St. Clair High School graduate. She is majoring in marketing at the University of Pittsburgh.

SHOP@USC (Showing How Opportunity Pays @ Upper St. Clair) is a fully inclusive student-run business housed within Upper St. Clair High School’s Innovation Hub. Students in the Life Skills program and their regular education partners design and manufacture USC spirit-wear products while learning how to develop a business plan that includes all aspects such as pricing, marketing, sales and inventory of products.

For more information, contact Michelle Zirngibl, SHOP@USC coordinator, at SHOP@USCsd.k12.pa.us or to shop the online store, visit shopusc.org.

• Two Fort Couch Middle School students earned high honors at the recent Pennsylvania Federation of Music Clubs Festivals Piano Competition on April 20 in Pittsburgh.

Seventh-grader Leona Chen and eighth-grader Eva Twedt earned first place in their respective levels, earning each of them a $75 prize.

Leona went on to a first-place finish in the overall competition among all levels, earning her the $400 PFMC Memorial Award. Eva finished second overall, earning the $250 PFMC Award.

• Four Upper St. Clair High School students recently earned recognition in the 2019 Secondary School Chemistry Contest, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society.

Sophomores Christian Chiu and Richa Mahajan finished first and second, respectively, in the first-year chemistry, large schools category. Junior Julia Brubach and senior Nicholas Devlin finished second and third, respectively, in the second-year chemistry category.

Eighty students from 18 schools competed for prizes and scholarships. First place in each category is awarded $250; second place, $150; and third place, $100.

Christian, Richa, Julia and Nicholas – along with their chemistry teacher, Laura Marks – will be honored at the organization’s annual awards dinner in May at Duquesne University.

• Upper St. Clair schools donated 4,425 pounds of foods and other items to the South Hills Interfaith Movement as a result of the inaugural district-wide food drive, sponsored and led by the USC Parent Teacher Council.

According to SHIM officials, the total represents the highest amount a school district donated to SHIM this year. Donations benefit the local community and will provide approximately 3,500 meals to families in the South Hills.

In addition to product donations, Streams Elementary School designated SHIM as the beneficiary of its yearly student-driven fundraiser, Children for Children. The Streams school community raised $9,213.57 for the organization.

SHIM has been providing food, clothing and services to people in need in Pittsburgh’s southern suburban neighborhoods for more than 50 years. The organization works to reduce the devastating effects of suburban poverty among the working poor, unemployed, families, single parents, senior citizens, women, and the high concentration of refugee families in its service area.

For more information regarding the district-wide food drive, contact Jen Schnore at jennifer_aitken@yahoo.com. For more information about SHIM or to make a donation directly to the organization, contact Seth Dubin, director of development, at sdubin@shimcares.org or call 412-854-9120 ext. 109.

• An Upper St. Clair High School junior placed second in the SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Championships. Lucas Gillespie, who attends Parkway West Career and Technology Center, competed in the building construction category.

Approximately, 1,400 students from throughout Pennsylvania participated in the 52nd SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Leadership Conference that was held April 10-12 in Hershey.

Lucas qualified for the state competition by earning a first-place finish at the SkillsUSA District Competition in January.

SkillsUSA is a national student organization that develops employability, participatory and leadership skills to complement the occupational skills developed by students in technical education classrooms or work-based learning sites.

• Two teams of Upper St. Clair High School students qualified to advance to the national Future Business Leaders of America competition, scheduled for June 29-July 2 in San Antonio, Texas.

The Emerging Business Issues team, made up of seniors Mallika Matharu, Meghan Joon and Arushi Khaitan, finished third in the Pennsylvania competition. The Business Ethics team – comprised of juniors Mathena Jencka, Anika Sinha and Olivia John – placed fourth. The top four in each category at the state-level competition qualify for nationals.

The FBLA Pennsylvania State Leadership Conference was held April 8-10, 2019, in Hershey, Pa. Other teams that finished in the top 10 at the Pennsylvania FBLA competition were Website Design: Marlo Schiffman, Anusha Neupane; Introduction to Business: William Bacdayan; Introduction to Public Speaking: Rushikeck Kulkarni; and Business Financial Plan: Vivek Babu, Suemin Lee, Eri Hayakawa.

• Boyce Middle School was recently awarded a $1,062.30 grant from TangerKIDS Grants Program to support the Boyce Book Clubs initiative.

The Boyce Book Clubs will provide fifth graders on Team Challenger with the opportunity to self-select high-interest books that will be read independently and discussed within small literature circle groups or book clubs. The project is led by Morgan Olsen, fifth-grade English language arts teacher.

The project will be implemented beginning this May and June and will continue in subsequent school years. The three books that students will select from include: “Hidden Figures Young Readers Edition,” “The Wild Robot Escapes,” and “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.”

According to the organization’s website, the TangerKIDS Grant program supports and serves the future generation by providing funding for special projects, programs and equipment for schools located near its outlet centers.

In 2018, the TangerKIDS Grant Program provided funding to Upper St. Clair High School in support of the school and community garden.

• Five Upper St. Clair students earned individual honors, including one scholarship, at the Covestro Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair, held in March at Heinz Field.

Junior Shanthi Krishnaswamy’s project, titled “A Self-Sustaining Aquaponic System,” won a scholarship award to the University of Pittsburgh – Bradford, along with a sponsor award from the U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps (Office of Naval Research). Last year, Shanthi earned Excellence in the Scientific Method recognition.

Four students earned sponsor awards for their projects. Freshman Shana Reddy, along with eighth-graders Mariyam Baytar and Ava Halligan, won sponsor awards from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Seventh-grader Joseph Donnelly earned a sponsor award from the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh for his project, “The Speed of Light in Gelatin.”

High school students were led by Corinne Nunez, high school science teacher, and Fort Couch Middle School science teachers, Jennifer Cramer and Caren Falascino, assisted Mariyam, Ava and Joseph.

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