Dassa student wins scholarship in art contestWEST SUNBURY — Kiera Nicodemus, a sixth grader at Dassa McKinney Elementary School, won a scholarship from Design-a-Card.org in their national art competition.For the competition, she and other students in grades 1 to 6 designed holiday cards in art class. Her card was selected to represent Dassa in the competition. It was selected as a winner nationally after public online voting.The card showed a snowman with the message “Joy to the World! Love...the medicine for frostbite.” As a winning drawing, the image was produced on a greeting card used for school fundraising. The card also was sold in a holiday card pack with all proceeds going to charity.Design-a-Card.org provides schools and other organizations with a free way to fundraise. The company is an offshoot of a business in Ireland.

Seneca pupils named 2016 Carson ScholarsJACKSON TWP — Urvi Gupta and Sarah Johanknecht, both students at Seneca Valley High School, were named as 2016 Carson Scholars by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Carson Scholars Fund.Urvi, a junior, received a college scholarship award.Sarah, a senior, renewed her Carson Scholar status by maintaining high academic standards and a strong commitment to her community.The Carson Scholars Fund awards scholarships to students who epitomize academic excellence and commitment to their communities.The students will be honored at an awards banquet in April.

Middle schoolers excel at Academic Games contestJACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley Academic Games Team excelled at the Pennsylvania State Academic Games Competition, known as the Tri-Bowl. Thirty-six middle school students competed with schools statewide and won first place in each of the four academic games.In the game of LinguiSHTIK, a team from Seneca won first place and are Pennsylvania state champions. The team members were Greta Schmidt, Jason Chen, Veronica Piminova, Jackson Scherzer and Zach Aaron.Seneca Valley teams also placed second, third (tied) and fifth in the state. The second place team members were Courtney Beals, Eric Ristey, Sydney Thompson, David deVyver and Connor Allen. The third place teams (tied) included Ryder Quiggle, Ian Bilger, Josh Miller, Anna Roberts, Kevin Donaldson, Dawson Ward, Sienna Summers, Aidan Uher, Sreya Padamati and Ella Fulford.The fifth place team included Andrew Loeffler, Tanya Gupta, Grace Hines, Paul Amado and Nathan Smith.Zach, Anna, Veronica, Andrew, Paul, Courtney, Sydney, Connor, Dawson, Sienna and Greta were national qualifiers.Tanya, David, Ryder, Josh, Aidanand Jackson were also national qualifiers with perfect scores.In the game of Propaganda, Seneca Valley finished in first place and are Pennsylvania state champions. The team members were Veronica, Andrew, Tanya, Dawson and Rachel Spear. The fourth place team included Grace, Sydney, Courtney, Sienna and Nathan. Dawson, Courtney and Jonah Kreiss were national qualifiers. Veronica and Rachel were individual Pennsylvania state co-champions in Propaganda.In the game of Equations, a team from Haine Middle School won first place and are Pennsylvania state champions. The team members were Jonah, Sreya, Ella, Meera Rathod and Josh. The second place team was Jackson, Tanush Nelikil, Aidan, Connor and Jason. The fourth place team was Sienna, Greta, Tanya, Michael Bardos and Nathan.The fifth place team included Veronica, Callista Sittig, Ryder, Daniel Simoes and Rachel.Finally, the sixth place team was Courtney, Paul, Kevin, Ria Dietz and Ian. Tanush, David, Anna, Ria and Daniel were national qualifiers. Josh, Sienna, Paul, Jackson, Jonah and Ryder were also national qualifiers with perfect scores.In the game of Presidents, a team from Seneca finished in first place. The Pennsylvania state champion team members were Veronica, Grace, Tanya, Aidan and Nathan. Veronica and Shanker Pillai were national qualifiers.To participate in the Tri-Bowl, students qualified by being one of the top scorers in at least one of six local tournaments.Students will compete at the Academic Games Leagues of America National Competition in April.———RENFREW — Justin Miller of Renfrew received a first place award at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science Region 9 competition at Slippery Rock University.He will attend the state competition in May at Penn State University.He is the son of Nathan Miller and Patricia (Felzke) Miller.———GROVE CITY — Elizabeth Parsons of Valencia earned a Student Activity Member scholarship from the Pittsburgh Professional Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).Parsons is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at Grove City College. She is vice president of the college's student chapter of ASHRAE.———ASHLAND, Ohio — Julianna Hritz of Seven Fields was inducted into Ashland University's Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society.Hritz is majoring in family and consumer science.She is a 2012 graduate of Seneca Valley High School and the daughter of Paul and Susan Hritz of Seven Fields.Omicron Delta Kappa is the National Leadership Honor Society that recognizes individuals who consistently achieve high standards of excellence in arts, athletics, media, scholarship and service.———JACKSON TWP — Four Seneca Valley students placed in the “You Be The Chemist” Challenge organized by the Evans City branch of BASF and the Chemical Education Foundation.Nathan Smith, a sixth grader at Evans City Middle School, won first place.Dean Smith, an eighth grader at Seneca Valley Middle School, won second place.Steven Yang, also an eighth grader at Seneca Valley Middle School, received fourth place.Rachel Spear, a sixth grader at Evans City Middle School, received seventh place.Brothers Nathan and Dean Smith advance to the state competition in April in State College. Yang will attend as an alternate.The challenge is an interactive academic contest that encourages students to explore chemistry concepts and their real-world applications.