School News Week of May 2
Leona Chen
Jason Lu
Rushikesh Kulkarni
Aubrey Lang
Mahir Parmar
Vidhur Senthil
Nivedha Suresh
Bethel Park
• Christian McClaine, a senior at Bethel Park High School, was named Student of the Month for April by the Bethel Park Rotary Club.
Christian recently attained the rank of Eagle Scout, which is the highest honor in the Boy Scouts of America program. He also was a member of the eight-student team that built the COVID-19 dashboard for Bethel Park School District.
Students of the month are nominated by administrators, teachers, students or community members and are chosen on the basis of academics, as well as scholastic, extracurricular and civic honors and awards, and organization membership and leadership.
At a luncheon held each month, honorees receive a certificate acknowledging their contribution to their community. For more information, visit bethelparkrotary.org or the club’s Facebook page.
Peters Township
• As part of its service to the community, the Peters Township Area Council PTA is hosting a forum for candidates seeking election to the Peters School Board.
The event is scheduled from 6 to 8:30 p.m. May 11at Peters Township High School, 121 Rolling Hills Drive. All candidates for school board have received an invitation to attend.
Moderating the forum is Brian Schill, executive director of the Peters Township Chamber of Commerce. The format will be two-minute opening statements from each candidate, moderated question-and-answer session (timed), and a one-minute closing statement.
While there will be no live audience questions on the night of the forum because of time constraints, PTA Area Council is gathering questions ahead of time. They can be submitted to petersptaareacouncil@gmail.com by May 4.
Question topics will be tabulated anonymously and selected based on the most common themes submitted by residents.
On the night of the forum, all Peters Township residents are welcome to attend. Enter through the main entrance and look for location signs.
Please note that all COVID-19 protocols required by the Peters Township School District must be strictly adhered to. All candidates, other participants, and audience members are to stay home if ill, wear masks, and remain at a six-foot distance from others not in the same household. That includes time spent in the forum room and main foyer.
The forum will be recorded and available on the school district’s website following the event.
Because of the Peters Township Area Council PTA’s nonprofit 501©(3) status, the association cannot support or oppose candidates for public office, establish political action committees that support candidates, rate candidates in any fashion, conduct research or analysis for a party or candidate, or give membership lists to candidates.
Upper St. Clair
• Five Upper St. Clair High School students placed in the top four in their respective events at the Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference, qualifying to compete at the National Leadership Conference:
Mahir Parmar, ninth grade, Introduction to Business, first place; Vidhur Senthil, 11th grade, Personal Finance, first place; Rushikesh Kulkarni, 11th grade, Public Speaking, second place; Aubrey Lang, 11th grade, Hospitality & Event Management, fourth place; Nivedha Suresh, 11th grade, Hospitality & Event Management, fourth place.
The students were recognized during a virtual awards program, which was broadcast on April 13.
“With everything going on this year for the students to take it upon themselves to learn the information for these events and compete is astounding,” Pat Manion, high school social studies teacher and FBLA sponsor, said.
The FBLA National Leadership Conference is set for June 29 through July 2. The event will be held virtually.
Although they did not qualify for nationals, 17 additional students finished in the top 10 in their respective events: Sujay Shah, 11th grade, Computer Problem Solving, fifth place; Abelardo Sobarzo, 12th grade, Graphic Design, fifth place; Anthony DeNoon, 11th grade, International Business, fifth place; Andrew Rosello, 11th grade, International Business, fifth place; Shane Williams, 11th grade, International Business, fifth place; Alex Belback, 12th grade, Network Design, fifth place; Parth Patel, 12th grade, Network Design, fifth place; Ben Bacdayan, 12th grade, Banking & Financial Systems, sixth place; Sujay Banerjee, 12th grade, Banking & Financial Systems, sixth place; Harrison Chui, 12th grade, Banking & Financial Systems, sixth place; Carter Chui, 10th grade, Business Ethics, sixth place; Phillip Markovitz, 10th grade, Business Ethics, sixth place; Benjamin Wasson, 10th grade, Business Ethics, sixth place; Matthew Earley, 10th grade, Introduction to Business Communication, ninth place; Alyana Childs, 11th grade, Social Media Strategies, ninth place; Anya Ekbote, 11th grade, Social Media Strategies, nint.h place; Carmella McNally, 11th grade, Social Media Strategies, ninth place.
FBLA is a nonprofit educational association that prepares students for careers in business by helping them develop leadership abilities, and prepare for entry into, and advancement within, a business or business-related occupation.
• Two Upper St. Clair High School students were recently selected as featured artists in the 2021 Pittsburgh Concert Society Young Artists auditions. Pianists Leona Chen, ninth grade, and Jason Lu, 10th, will be featured in an upcoming concert on the organization’s YouTube channel.
Auditions were conducted via video submission on March 29. The auditions were adjudicated by Thomas Novak, vice president and provost for the New England Conservatory in Boston, the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States.
The Young Artists Auditions, judged by nationally known adjudicators, are held annually in March. Instrumentalists must be under the age of 19, vocalists under 22 by June 30 of the audition year, and they must live within a 75-mile radius of Pittsburgh.
Each winner of the Young Artists Auditions receives a $500 award from the Benjamin and Anna Perlow Scholarships Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, designated for the furtherance of his/her music studies.
In addition to the Young Artists Auditions, Jason and Leona earned recognition in the recent Lois Streator & Lois Smith Memorial Competition of the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of the Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association. Jason placed third and Leona earned honorable mention. The Streator-Smith Competition began in 1992 to recognize talent in students in seventh through 12th grades.
Participants each presented a 12-minute program composed of two pieces from different periods, and the winners will receive a cash prize.
Leona recently won first place in the music category of the annual Discover FAA High School Competition hosted by the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She performed Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat major “Heroic.”
In 2019, as a seventh-grader, Leona placed first overall in the Pennsylvania Federation of Music Clubs Festivals Piano Competition.
In December 2020, Jason was awarded the Award of Excellence in the Young Artists Program, sponsored by the Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania. Jason, who performed two classic selections, was selected from among 54 pianists.