Student Directory
Sophia Kunkel is a self-described literature-lovining high school senior with a passion for writing, and this passion of hers was recently recognized when she was awarded a Gold Key in the 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for the Northeast Writing Region-at-Large.
Sophia won in the novel writing category for the prologue and first chapter of her book “Starless Skies and Broken Dreams.”
“I submitted the prologue and first chapter of my senior project, 'Starless Skies and Broken Dreams' which is a novel about two best friends who are transported into another world when they come across a bottle floating in the ocean waves of California,” she said.
A Gold Key is the highest standard for the regional awards. This win automatically enters Sophia into the National Competition. If she wins again, she could receive a scholarship upwards of $10,000 and her piece would be published in “The Best Teen Writing of 2021” anthology published by Scholastic.
Additionally, Seneca Valley junior Julia Lingenfelter was awarded two honorable mentions for her personal essay and memoir “The Apple Tree” and for her poetry titled “Julia.”
Seneca Valley Choir seniors Ethan Bannon, Nicholas Folino, and juniors Alex Mortier and Jonah Smeltzer, in addition to Seneca Valley Band senior Lizzie Sylves were accepted to participate in the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) All-East Honors Ensemble March 4-6.Ethan, Nicholas, Alex and Jonah represented the SV Choral department as a part of the All-East Mixed Chorus. Lizzie represented the SV Band department as a wind player in All-East Orchestra.In place of a live event, it was a “virtual weekend” experience that will included keynote speakers, master classes with professional musicians, rehearsals with their conductors as well as opportunities to learn and network with colleges and universities of various types and participate in mock auditions.This year, students will individually record their performance from home led by a virtual performance of their conductor. The recordings will be edited together to produce a virtual ensemble for the concert performance. The concert will be premiered at 8:30 p.m. April 23, during the designated concert hour at the 57th NAfME Eastern Division Virtual In-Service Conference.
Mars Robotics Association's FIRST LEGO League Team earned a Perseverance Award at the 2021 Pittsburgh Virtual FLL Competition, held Feb. 18.The award is given to the team that improvises and overcomes a difficult situation, while achieving their goal with a positive attitude. Team members are sixth-graders Aiden Gloystein, Sophia Gourash and Alex Hutchens and fifth-grader Preston Musser.The students built a robot with a LEGO EV3 base, adding different attachments to accomplish FLL tasks to score points. Team members also learned Python programming language to better control their robot.As part of the competition, the students researched the problem of how to get society to exercise more and presented their solution to the judges.For more information, visit www.marsroboticsassociation.org.
One Seneca Valley junior is getting a peek into the inner workings of the FBI.Meera Rathod was recently accepted into the 2021 FBI Pittsburgh Teen Academy.As a selected participant, Meera will gain a better understanding of the FBI.Additionally, she will be offered insight into a number of topics and specialties, including the importance of making good choices when using online communication platforms, understanding which federal law violations the FBI investigates, requirements of all FBI applicants, and the FBI's domestic and international roles.Meera will also have the opportunity for various hands-on experiences involving specialized areas of the FBI, such as the Evidence Response Team.
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