Fox Chapel Area High School art teacher Jody Shell received an award for a painting/collage she created with friend Karen Larson.  Shell and Larson received a “Juror’s Award” as part of the Pittsburgh Society of Artists’ show.

 Fox Chapel Area High School’s 2011-12 literary magazine Tapestry has been named a first place winner in the American Scholastic Press Association’s annual national contest.

 Fox Chapel Area School District publications received four state awards in the 2012 Annual Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) Educational Publications Contest.

Fox Chapel Area High School junior Lauren Thaete (tenor saxophone) was selected by audition to perform with the 2012 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 1 Honors Jazz Band East ensemble.

Four Fox Chapel Area High School students have been selected as the “Language Learner of the Month” for Sept.  They are: Ian Christie, Aaron Bliss, Madeline Volosky and Elena Berg.

 Twenty-four Fox Chapel Area High School students were inducted into the Spanish National Honor Society on Oct. 9.

 The Dorseyville Middle School Sinfonia Orchestra is one of only 16 orchestras from across the nation to be selected to participate in the 2013 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Orchestra Festival.

 The Seneca Valley School District announced that three senior high school students have been named Commended Students in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program.  The students are: Jennifer Rowekamp, Joseph Geyer and Rosemary Emmerling.

 Andrea Peck has been promoted from the position of assistant principal to principal of Seneca Valley Middle School.

 Seneca Valley sophomore Laura Neu appeared on Nickelodeon’s smash hit game show Figure It Out.

 Hampton junior Madelyn Adamczyk was selected as one of 26 reporters for One Young World, a globally youth leadership summit which was held Oct.18-22 in Pittsburgh.

 North Hills High School Jazz Band and North Hills assistant superintendent for Curriculum, Assessment and Special Programs, Dr. Jeff Taylor performed at the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and Pennsylvania School Boards Association Conference on Oct. 16-19 in Hershey.

 North Hills Senior High School seniors Kevin Loughlin and Elisabeth Spear have been chosen as 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists.

 North Hills School District’s West View Elementary School teacher Martin Richter has authored his sixth book called Orchestral Symbolism in Wagner’s Das Rheingold.

 North Hills Senior High junior Peter Gaus, 17, received the Celebration of Caring Award from Northside Common Ministries for his dedicated volunteerism.

 The North Allegheny School District announced that the Hall of Fame Committee has named the Induction Class of 2012.  The induction ceremony was held Oct. 11.  The honorees were: Mike Arnold, Jeff Casten, Sara Krastek, Heinz Pak, Tommy Parks, Mimi Patchen, Jessica Siegele, Carrie Goheen Wagner and John Woffington.

 Dr. Brian R. Miller, assistant superintendent of K-12 Education has been selected by the Pennsylvania Association of Elementary and Secondary School Principals as the 2012 recipient of the Frank S. Manchester Excellence in Journalism Award.

 North Allegheny senior Emma Munson has garnered national recognition in the Scholastic Art & Awards Program.  Her painting, “The Room” was awarded a Gold Key in the 2012 competition.

 North Allegheny junior Rachel Tankersley has been named a Semi-Finalist in the 2013 National Achievement® Scholarship Program, an academic competition for Black American high school students.

 Kathleen Zhou and Lily Zhang won Second Place in the Nation for their performance at the 2012 National Forensic League (NFL) National Speech and Debate Tournament.

 North Allegheny High School Air Force JROTC (AFROTC) Academic Team composed of Ryan Sanguigni, Erik McLane, Brian Lubbert-Hill and Lionel Gumireddy won Third Place in the 2012 Air Force JROTC Academic Bowl Championship.

 North Allegheny won seven First Place awards and three Second Place Awards at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS).  First place winners: Medha Sharma, Harish Balasubramani, Ashrith Balakumar, Songela Chen, Derek Wang, Anisha Reddy and Oruba Ahmed.  Second place winners: Jennifer Hofmann, Zain Mehdi and Pranav Murthy.

 The North Allegheny Student Council has been awarded the 2012 National Gold Council of Excellence Award by the National Association of Student Council (NASC).

 North Allegheny School District announced that the National Merit® Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has recognized 53 students in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Competition.

 Thirty-two North Allegheny students were selected for the PMEA Honors Orchestra. 

 Shady Side Academy Middle School English teacher Dr. Sara Kajder’s book Adolescents and Digital Literacies: Learning Alongside Our Students was chosen to receive the 2012 James N. Britton Award sponsored by the Conference on English Education (CEE) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

 Shady Side Academy Senior School mathematics and philosophy teacher Dr. John Sutula was chosen as a recipient of the 2012 Yale Educator Award, which is given to outstanding educators whose work inspires their students to strive for excellence at the highest level.

 Seven Shady Side Academy seniors have been named semifinalists in the 58^th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.  They are: Shivum Bharill, Maclean Calihan, Tara Lee, Maggie Leech, Christopher Sawicki, Ayesha Shah and Paul Steenkiste.

 Fifteen Shady Side Academy seniors have been named commended students in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program.  They are: Mohsin Ahmad, Mia Borelli, Perry Cao, Harrison Gottlieb, Alexandra Janczewska, Audrey Koi, Mary McLaughlin, Alok Nimgaonkar, Dominic Oliver, Danielle Perelman, Virat Reddy, Hibiki Sakari, Antonio Satryan, Alexandra Smith and Lia Winter.

 PA Cyber School student Searrah Bierker and her family were awarded four bicycles at Big Bang Bikes Coloring Contest sponsored by Eat’n Park.

 Six seniors at Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh have earned a perfect 800 score on the Critical Reading section of the SAT test.  They are: Margaret Boyd, Paige Hardman, Christopher Kirkland, Clare Meland, Maria McKeating and Roman Solomond.

 Providence Heights Alpha Girl’s Junior Varsity Team captured first place in the Elementary Girls 1.5 mile race at the Slippery Rock Cross Country Invitational.  Team winners were: Kirstin Rieder, Annie Snyder, Catie Kress, Meghan Phrampus, Hannah Schupansky, Katie Snyder, Ellie Stokes, Sarah Pritchard, Allison Edwards, Elizabeth Groetsch, Hollie Walters, Adrianna Amelio, Madelyn Stewart, (not pictured) – Gabrielle Hill-Junke, Helen Katyal, Emilee Neuman, Sarah Schupansky and Elena Ziccarelli.

 The St. Alphonsus School community in Wexford donated over $2,500 to the American Heart Association and also walked with “Luke’s Team” at the Cranberry Heart Walk fundraiser.  The team is named for Luke Ball, a second grade student and heart transplant recipient at the school.

 La Roche College associate professor Dr. Azlan Tajuddin has published a new book titled, Malaysia in the World Economy (1824-2011); Capitalism, Ethnic Divisions and “Managed” Democracy.

 In Sept., La Roche College was named a Best Northeastern College by Princeton Review.  La Roche is one of 633 colleges across the country and 220 colleges in the Northeast that was selected for this honor.

 As part of its 50^th anniversary celebration, La Roche College announced the creation of the Distinguished Alumni Circle, which honors graduates of La Roche who have achieve outstanding professional success, who have demonstrated a significant dedication to community service, and whose lives reflect a strong commitment to the values embodied in La Roche’s mission.

 La Roche College student Jessica Rood of Erie was crowned Miss Pennsylvania Collegiate America 2013 at the Lancaster Host Resort in Lancaster.  She will represent the Keystone State at the National Miss Collegiate America Pageant to be held in July in Orlando, Fla.

 Community College of Allegheny County North Campus golfer Eric Poplowski won the Western Penna., Collegiate Conference Championship.  The event was held Sept.28-29 at the Links at Spring Church in Apollo.

October 2012 School Movers & Shakers