Student news: Dean's list, science awards, National Technical Honor Society, speech league accolades and more

Fox Chapel Area High School and Dorseyville Middle School students won awards as part of the virtual 87th Annual Region 7 Meeting of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS).

District first-place winners were seniors Jackson Romero and Sanjay Seshan; juniors Zoe Lakkis and Siddharth Yende; sophomores Lawrence Liu and Arvind Seshan; freshmen Lakshanya Rajaganapathi and Adhitya Thirumala; and eighth graders Anna Delale-O’Connor, Etash Jhanji and Rohit Velankar.

First-place winners qualified for the state PJAS competition which will be held virtually in May.

Second-place awards went to junior Janise Kim, sophomore Alina Stiger and eighth grader Alex Kim.

The participating students, from several schools from Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, researched their science projects for several months. Each of the students was required to submit a voice-over PowerPoint presentation for a panel of judges.

Dean’s list honors

Two Lower Valley residents earned a place on the dean’s list at Lehigh University for the Fall 2020 semester.

They are Theodore Faucher and Andrew Fugh. The status is granted to students who earn a scholastic average of 3.6 or better while carrying at least 12 hours of regularly graded courses.

Field hockey academic accolades

Six Shady Side Academy Senior School students were among more than 2,400 high school field hockey players across the country who were recognized for their academic achievement by being named to the 2020 Keith Waldman — Optimal Performance Associates/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) High School National Academic Squad.

Seniors Annabel Everett, Annabel Kuhn and Cealy Fryncko; and juniors Dylan Green, Cecelia Messner and Jamila Snyder were named to the squad, with Everett and Green earning the additional “Scholars of Distinction” recognition.

The Academic Squad program recognizes high school seniors and juniors for academic achievement measured by their cumulative, unweighted GPA through the first quarter of the 2020-21 school year.

Speech tournament success

Five Fox Chapel Area High School students ranked among the best at the Pennsylvania High School Speech League (PHSSL) State Championship Tournament.

Freshman Isabella White won first place and is the state champion in Lincoln Douglas Debate.

The team of senior Jackson Romero and junior Ian Mackey-Piccolo finished in the top four in the state in Policy Debate.

Sophomore Silas Owens finished as a quarterfinalist in Extemporaneous Debate, placing him in the top eight in the state. In Student Congress, junior Patrick Alexander was a Supersession Finalist, meaning he finished among the top 12 in the state.

The Fox Chapel Area High School forensic team won second place overall in the Small School Division based on the number of entries from the schools.

Other district students who participated in the state championships and contributed to the team’s second-place win were senior Suparna Agrawal (Impromptu Speaking) and freshmen Lilly Friedman (Informative Speaking) and Seoyoon “Heidi” Lee (Poetry).

The state tournament was held virtually March 13 and 14 through Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania with more than 570 students.

NTHS inductees

Five Fox Chapel Area High School and A.W. Beattie Career Center students will be inducted into the National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) this year.

They are senior Emma Bernesser (Veterinary Sciences Technology); and juniors Meghan DeLuca (Health and Nursing Sciences), Justin Friday (Health and Nursing Sciences), Amelia Herzer (Health and Nursing Sciences) and Jenna Rubican (Advertising Design). The students will be honored as part of a drive-thru ceremony and also via a special video produced by A.W. Beattie.

Students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have a grade of at least 93% in their career training programs and miss no more than five days of school. Candidates also must have a clear disciplinary record and belong to a service organization or participate in an extracurricular activity. The NTHS provides scholarships for ongoing education and works to improve the skilled workforce.