School news: Week of March 24
Parent/family workshop
The Bethel Park School District will host a Federal Programs Parent/Family Workshop from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. April 1 in the Community Room of the Administration Building at 301 Church Road.
The topic for the program for parents of elementary students is “Conversation around the PA Core Standards.” The program will focus on Title I, IIA and IV strategies for elementary level reading and math. There is no charge to attend, but parents are asked to register at 412-854-8735 by March 26.
Parents are also asked to provide information regarding what grade their children are in so the program can be tailored to the needs of the attending parents. Light refreshments will be served.
Art installation at SHV
An art display created by Eisenhower Elementary School students has been installed in the South Hills Village Mall. The artwork, located on the lower level near the former Sears store, features 280 brightly colored canvas tiles.
South Hills Village approached Eisenhower Elementary with a potential location for an art display to cover the temporary wall surrounding the center court escalator renovation. The project was coordinated through Matthew Cosgrove, Eisenhower Elementary art teacher.
The art installation will remain up through the end of May. South Hills Village officials may relocate the installation to another part of the mall when the escalator project is complete.
GeoBee semifinalist
Briella Lucadamo, an eighth-grader at St. Louise de Marillac School in Upper St. Clair, has been named a National Geographic GeoBee Pennsylvania State Competition Semifinalist by National Geographic Society. She will compete in the contest set for March 29 at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Briella is the daughter of Gene Lucadamo and Michele Straka.
Speech/debate champs
On March 16, the Upper St. Clair High School Speech & Debate team captured its second Pennsylvania High School Speech League Championship in three years. The team placed first in the Speech Sweepstakes Championship, second in Debate Sweepstakes and took home its second Cumulative Sweepstakes Award, the first coming in 2013.
In addition to top team awards, Upper St. Clair also earned individual state championships with Paarth Shankar in Extemporaneous Speaking; Riwk Sen in Humorous Interpretation; Hashim Durrani in Dramatic Interpretation; and the team of Devan Ekbote, Mathena Jencka, and Anika Sinha in Parliamentary Debate.
Winners included:
- Public Forum Debate — Meghan Joon and Dina Leyzarovich, fifth place
- Parliamentary Debate — Devan Ekbote, Mathena Jencka and Anika Sinha, State Champions (Undefeated 7-0); Vivek Babu, Sunny Chai and Jami Stout, third place (Semifinalist); Yash Jajoo, Basir Khan and Ayush Sharma, sixth place
- Humorous Interpretation — Riwk Sen, Qualifier, State Champion; Maddie Nolen, fourth place
- Dramatic Interpretation — Hashim Durrani, State Champion; Mayka Chaves, eighth place (Semifinalist)
- Poetry Interpretation — Annika Chaves, fourth place; Anoushka Sinha, 11th place (Semifinalist)
- Prose Interpretation — Richa Mahajan, 11th place (Semifinalist)
- Informative Oratory — Neha Patel, 11th place (Semifinalist)
- Extemporaneous Speaking — Paarth Shankar, State Champion; Atharva Barve, 11th place (Semifinalist)
- Commentary — Antara Cleetus, third place
- Student Congress-House — Caroline Wolfe, second place (Superior Speaker)
- Impromptu Speaking — Hridhay Reddy, 18th place (Quarterfinalist)