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School News: Week of Sept. 8

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Upper St. Clair High School girls varsity golf team

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Detective Joelle Dixon receives a certificate of appreciation from Connie Ruhl, Bethel Park School Board vice president.

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Presenting the certificate to Lincoln PTO Secretary Amy Mattila, left, is Connie Ruhl, Bethel Park School Board vice president.

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Mike Mathias, left, president of the Bethel Park High School Soccer Boosters, and Steve Minick, vice president, receive a certificate from Connie Ruhl, Bethel Park School Board vice president.

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Chris Van Dyke, Black Hawk Family Relief Fund Board of Directors member, receives a certificate from Connie Ruhl, Bethel Park School Board vice president.

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Luke An

Bethel Park

• Bethel Park School Board presented four certificates of appreciation Aug. 27, including one to Joelle Dixon for her service as the district’s school resource officer the past two school years.

The detective helped oversee the expansion of the Bethel Park School Police Force and was a daily presence in the schools, helping with investigations and serving as a friendly face for students when they needed to share a concern. She advised district administration with recommendations to enhance and improve the safety of its schools and crisis response procedures.

Dixon took the lead in coordinating the interagency Reunification Drill held at Bethel Park Community Center in June, and she worked to obtain the supplies for the emergency buckets that are in all school district classrooms.

In addition to serving as a school resource officer, she previously served as a Police Pal at the elementary level and was a member of the District’s Crisis Prevention and Management Committee, helping to transition the ALICE Program to Bethel Park in 2015.

Also, Abraham Lincoln Elementary School PTO was recognized for its $4,000 donation toward the purchase of new furniture for the school’s library. The new furniture will make the library a more functional STEAM-based space.

The Bethel Park High School Soccer Boosters donated 88 soccer bags for the boys and girls soccer teams, valued at $3,045.

The Black Hawk Family Coalition donated $395.57 to the school district to cover outstanding cafeteria balances for students who qualified for the reduced lunch program during the 2018-19 school year.

Peters Township

• Peters Township High School students continue to receive national recognition for their outstanding performance on the Advanced Placement exams, with 205 students earning AP Scholar Awards for their performance in 2019.

The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on students’ performance on these exams. The AP exams provide students with the opportunity to earn college credit or advanced placement at the college level.

Overall, 25 students have qualified for the National AP Scholar Award by earning an average score of at least 4 on all AP exams and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of the exams: Maura Farinelli, Mason Gautschi, Griffin Gillespie, Natalie Glover, Raeanne Heuler, Darren Hollander, Daniel Isaac, Aidan Jones, Kyle Kroboth, Juliette Langley, Mark McFarlin, Landry Oliver, Alexandra Orphall, Elizabeth Racunas, Tanish Rastogi, Michael Rehl, Christian Rhen, Anthony Robol, Rebecca Schneirov, Malina Slizik, Marco Stracci, Sarah Suchko, Uma Thachapuzha, Joshua Zeisloft and Andrew Zhang.

In addition, 80 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of the exams; 47 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of the exams; and 78 students qualified for the AP Scholar Award by completing three or more AP Exams with scores of 3 or higher.

Upper St. Clair

• The Upper St. Clair High School girls varsity golf team was awarded the Panther Cup – Academic Team Award for earning the school’s highest average GPA among the 30 varsity sports teams during the 2018-19 academic year.

With a 3.87 average GPA, this marks the team’s second consecutive Panther Cup victory.

The winner of the Panther Cup was announced at the third annual Community Pep Rally Aug. 26 at the high school stadium. Hundreds of Upper St. Clair High School student-athletes and members of the marching band participated in the event.

In addition to friendly team competitions, the event featured performances by the Upper St. Clair High School marching band as well as the cheerleading, hip hop and dance teams.

• Upper St. Clair sixth-grader Luke An recently earned a seventh place finish in the 2019 National Math Kangaroo competition at the University of Pittsburgh. Luke, along with other Pennsylvania students who finished in the top 20 in the national ranking, were recognized at an award ceremony June 10 at the University of Pittsburgh.

Math Kangaroo, held the third Thursday in March, is an annual mathematical competition for students in grades one through 12. For grades five and up, students have 75 minutes to complete 30 multiple choice questions. The maximum possible score is 120 points. Luke scored 111.

Students who earn top scores at each level of participation are awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals for first, second and third place, respectively. The top scoring students – first, second and third, by level – for each participating state are also recognized with prize ribbons.

Dr. Yifang Song, Luke’s mother, is grateful for the opportunities her son has had to explore his educational interests.

“We greatly appreciate the effort you put in to create an incredible and safe learning culture at Boyce, nurturing his curiosity, and encouraging him to explore more challenges,” she said.

All Math Kangaroo participants receive a t-shirt and a certificate of participation.

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