Bethel Park School

District

April 2010 Highlights

Bethel Park Named Among

Top 10 Schools In Country

by Great Schools• Bethel Park Schools were named among the

Top 10 in the ―Best Schools in the Country for Your Housing Dollar‖ in the ―Homes Worth $100,000 to $199,999‖ category by Great Schools.

• Great Schools is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization which operates a website designed to provide information on school performance.

• The website is funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

• For more information, please go to: http://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/moving/slideshows/top-public-schools-100K-199K.gs?content=2337&page=10#slide

IMS Ranked #7 in PA by

Johns Hopkins• Independence Middle

School was ranked #7 in Pennsylvania by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in its 2009 Talent Search.

• This ranking reflects the school’s academic quality, student abilities, teacher talent and the school’s leadership that encourages students to seek out educational challenges beyond the traditional school walls.

BPHS and IMS Students Win

at PRSEF• Six Bethel Park students earned

awards at the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Heinz Field.

• Senior Ainesh Ravi—Honorable Mention in the Environmental Science category.

• Senior Andy Pfeifer—Award from the Institute of Electrical Engineers and Third Place in the Computer Science category.

• Junior Greg Pohodich—Award from the National Electric Contractors Association.

• Sophomore Will Ament—Awards from EXCO North Coast Energy and the Society of American Military Engineers and a Duquesne University Summer Research Award.

• Freshman Shankar Athinarayanan—Awards from the United States Army and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

• Eighth Grader Jarrod Cingel—Second Place in the Middle School Computer Science Category.

(Left to right): Greg Pohodich,

Shankar Athinarayanan, Will

Ament and Andy Pfeifer. Absent:

Ainesh Ravi.

Jarrod Cingel

BPHS and IMS Students Do

Well at Science Olympiad• Eighth grader Brandon Hanson and

seventh grader Jon Unger — First Place in the Trajectory Event.

• Eighth graders Haley Smith and Billy Ruschel — Second Place in the Anatomy Event.

• Seventh grader Adelai Flowers and eighth grader Ben Muscato — Third Place in the Bio-Process Lab Event.

• Eighth grader Brandon Hanson and seventh grader Adithya Krishnachand –Third Place in the Shock Value Event.

• Freshman Shankar Athinarayanan and junior Jake Michalski – Third Place in the Dynamic Planet Event.

• Senior Andy Pfeifer and freshman Kyle Barron – Third Place in the Remote Sensing Event.

• Eighth graders Victoria Jakicic and Katherine Yan – Fourth Place in the Science Crime Busters Event.

• Seniors Andy Pfeifer and Sarah Yousef –Fourth Place in the Astronomy Event.

The BPHS winners (above)

and the IMS winners (below)

BPHS Students Win Medals

at FCCLA State Conference• Melissa Barnes and

Bridget Lydon – Gold Medal for their ―Focus on Children—Latchkey Kids‖ Project.

• Rebecca Gales andSara Tolmer – Silver Medal for their ―Driving and Cell Phone Dangers‖ Presentation.

• Teasa Smith-Perry –Bronze Medal in the Culinary Cooking Competition.

(Left to right): Bridget Lydon,

Melissa Barnes, Teasa Smith-

Perry, Sara Tolmer and Rebecca

Gales

BPHS Students Win First

Teen Safe Driving Contest• The Bethel Park High School

Team-- Ainesh Ravi, Cameron Jones and Kaitlynn Conley won the First Annual Teen Safe Driving Competition at the Pittsburgh Technical Institute.

• Kaitlynn Conley finished in Second Place in the Individual Competition and received a Silver Medal and $500. She will compete at the State competition in May.

• Eight schools competed in this competition, which involved a demonstration of driving skills, completion of a written test and a completion of a perception test.

(Left to right): Ainesh Ravi, Kaitlynn

Conley and Cameron Jones

BPHS German Students Win

at German Day Competition• BPHS students swept the Culture

Bowl Competition for the fourth time in eight years. Thomas Phillips was First, followed by Brandon Rauch in Second and Marissa Meshanko in Third.

• John Pike finished in First in the German Poetry Writing Competition for his original poem, ―Um Laut ZuSein‖ (―In Order to be Loud.‖)

• Andrew Glaid earned First Place in the German Folkloric Arts and Crafts Event for his functional scale replica of a Gutenberg printing press.

• Thomas Phillips earned Second Place in the German Fiction Writing Competition for his short story, ―DerVerlorene Schatz‖ (―The Lost Treasure.‖)

• The competition was held at Washington and Jefferson College.

(Left to right): Andrew Glaid,

Thomas Phillips, Marissa

Meshanko, Brandon Rauch and

John Pike.

Bethel Park Students Do

Well on National Latin

Exams• Eighth grader Jarrod Cingel – Gold Medal and Summa

Cum Laude Certificate on Level 1 Exam.

• Eighth grader Christian Hokaj – Silver Medal and Maxima Cum Laude Certificate on Level 1 Exam.

• Freshman Dylan Reese – Magna Cum Laude Certificate on Level 1 Exam.

• Freshman Julianna Buchwald – Cum Laude Certificate on Level 1 Exam.

• Freshman Stephen Barnhart – Silver Medal and Maxima Cum Laude Certificate on Level 2 Exam.

• Freshman Dan Snyder – Magna Cum Laude Certificate on Level 2 Exam.

• Freshman Austin Anderson – Cum Laude Certificate on Level 2 Exam.

• Sophomore Erin Hajduk – Cum Laude Certificate on Level 3 Exam.

Paula Amin Named District

Forensics Student of the

Year!• BPHS senior Paula Amin was

named the Pittsburgh District Student of the Year by the National Forensics League.

• She was chosen based on her strong academic standards and commitment to community service, as well as her dedication to forensics and commitment to the values of the National Forensics League.

• She is now eligible to be named the National Forensic League’s Student Spokesperson.

Paula Amin

BPHS Students Selected for

All-State Ensembles

• Julie Hollis (clarinet) and Spencer Kun(oboe) will perform in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s All-State Band.

• David Dickey (tenor 1) will sing in PMEA’s All-State Chorus.

• Both concerts will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

(Above:) Spencer Kun and Julie

Hollis; (below): David Dickey.

Five Selected for

Elementary District Band

Fest West• Neil Armstrong Sixth

Grade Musicians:

• Emma Davin (clarinet)

• David Erzen (trombone)

• Zach Sedor (alto saxophone)

• Rebekah Thompson (French horn)

• Joey Wasko (tuba)

• The concert will be held in May at Keystone Oaks High School.

(Left to right:) Joey Wasko,

Rebekah Thompson, Emma

Davin, David Erzen and Zach

Sedor.

Congratulations, Mark

Woodard!

• Independence Middle School eighth grader Mark Woodard received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his commitment to community service.

• Mark is a member of the IMS Recycling Team, helps with special needs students at school, volunteers at a camp for autistic students, volunteers at a food bank and is a Boy Scout.

• He received a certificate and letter from President Obama.

Mark Woodard

Memorial Crowns Spelling

Bee Champions!• FOURTH GRADE

BEE—

• Cole Stewart — First Place

• Alexander Noel –Second Place

• Hannah Moore – Third Place

• THIRD GRADE BEE---

• Emily Cowser – First Place

• Alexa Sepesky –Second Place

• Emma Petrick – Third Place

(Left to right): Hannah Moore,

Alexander Noel, Cole Stewart,

Emily Cowser, Alexa Sepesky and

Emma Petrick

Volleyball Challenge Raises

$3,002 for ―Home Again‖• The staffs from Lincoln,

Franklin, Memorial and Washington organized an Elementary Volleyball Challenge to raise money for the ―Home Again‖ Project at IMS.

• Teams played against one another on March 27 at IMS, with Memorial winning the tournament.

• Refreshments, raffles and a bake sale also helped to raise funds for this student service learning opportunity at IMS that will have students and staff working together to refurbish the home of a needy Bethel Park family in May.

(Above): the Memorial

Champs; (below):

students cheer for their

favorite team.

Dance Marathon Raises

$4,853.61 for Charity• The BPHS Student

Government Association, under the leadership of Aryn Malarkey, organized a Dance Marathon to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund.

• This year’s Dance Marathon raised $4,853.61 for a good cause!

• The Four Diamonds Fund supports children’s cancer research at the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.

Aryn Malarkey

BPHS Leprechauns Raise

$1,000 for Haiti• Bethel Park High School staff

members dressed as leprechauns to raise money to purchase water filters from Pure Water for All to be sent to Haiti.

• Students put money in pots of gold on the teachers’ desks in support of the program.

• $500 was raised through the pots of gold and the BPHS Interact Club matched the donations to purchase $1,000 worth of water filters for Haiti.

• Thanks to Mrs. Kuhn, Mr. Lape, Mrs. Dobos, Mr. Jack, Ms. Findlay, Mr. Casagranda, Mr. Bouch, Ms. Chapin andMs. D’Alessandro for participating!

The BPHS Leprechauns

raised $1,000 to send water

filters from Pure Water for All

to Haiti.