Mars Area High School seniors Alek Johnson and Elizabeth Long will advance to take the 2021 U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad exam, to be administered virtually April 17.

Alek and Elizabeth were among 13 students from the Pittsburgh region to qualify for the national level exam based on their scores on the Local Chemistry Olympiad Exam, administered March 27.

They are the first Mars Area students to advance to the USNCO Exam.

For more information, visit www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/students/highschool/olympiad.html.

A 31-year-old Butler County Community College student's essay about overcoming a past of physical abuse, of witnessing and blaming herself at 10 for her cousin's accidental death, of a crash that left her partially paralyzed and ultimately of drug use “in hopes that I would die” could receive $17,500 in scholarships from an organization that supports and empowers women.Alyssa Mainhart's “Live Your Dream” essay also celebrates her present and her future. It has been awarded $7,500 in scholarships from the Soroptimist International of the Americas at the local, district then regional levels, and is being considered for an international $10,000 award.