The National Honor Society announced Simren Jayaraman, a senior at Seneca Valley Senior High School and member of National Honor Society, has been selected as an NHS Scholarship semifinalist.

Recipients are chosen based on their demonstrated work to support the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership and character. Simren was chosen from nearly 10,000 applicants and will receive a $3,200 scholarship toward higher education.

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Abigail Black of Butler was recently initiated into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Black was initiated at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership.

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The Bloomsburg University athletic department virtually recognized a record 246 scholar-athletes for their academic successes over the course of the past two semesters. Scholar-Athlete recognition was awarded to those who achieved a grade point average of 3.25 or higher during the past two semesters or who have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25.

Alyssa Dalmagro from Prospect, a member of the women’s cross country/track & field team, was honored with recognition.

Hannah White from Cranberry Township, a member of the women’s volleyball team, was honored with recognition.

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Slippery Rock University’s U.S. Army ROTC battalion was part of a Ranger Challenge team that, for the first time in program history, qualified for the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. SRU’s battalion was one of only 16 ROTC programs in the country to compete in Sandhurst, April 16-17, joining 25 USMA teams and three U.S. service academies who took part in a rigorous 36-hour course.

SRU’s battalion placed 26th overall, which was impressive for a group that until this year had never advanced to Sandhurst.

Battalion members included Austin Reep of Butler, Jonathan Duran of Prospect, Ryan Davis of Harrisville and Andrew Gaudish of Slippery Rock.

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University of Mount Union students were acknowledged at the Alliance, Ohio, institution’s Senior Recognition and Honors Convocation, held virtually April 20 on its website and social media channels.

Britt Kolek of Freeport was awarded the Mount Union Players’ Hall of Fame Award and the Alpha Lambda Delta 2021 Senior Certificate at the 2021 Mount Union Honors Convocation.

Joseph Demeis of Cranberry Township was awarded the Alpha Lambda Delta 2021 Senior Certificate at the 2021 Mount Union Honors Convocation.

Gretchen Koken of Cranberry Township was awarded Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference Status in women’s basketball at the 2021 Mount Union Honors Convocation.

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Mars Area Centennial School’s sixth-grade team took 11th place overall in this year’s Pennsylvania Mathematics League Contest.

The top five scorers were sixth-graders Soleil Herbst, Brett Kelly, Clara Lukasiak, Amanda Morrison and Grace Nam.

They earned a combined score of 112, which became the school’s “team” score and placed Mars third among schools in the Pittsburgh region.

Around 40 schools from across Pennsylvania participated in this year’s contest.

Sixth-grader Grace Nam achieved a score of 27 out of 35, ranking 21st in the overall competition.

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Several members of the Pine-Richland/Mars Area U.S. Air Force JROTC drill teams competed in the Parkersburg South JROTC Drill Competition April 24 at Parkersburg South High School.

Participating Mars Area High School students included Abigail King, Danielle Snyman, Tyler Brown, Trenton Farley, Nathaniel Huerbin, Reva Kalbhor and Alanna Shaw.

The JROTC drill team as a whole earned first place overall. The varsity unarmed, junior varsity unarmed and junior varsity armed drill teams and uniform inspection teams each earned first place in their respective competitions.

The varsity armed drill team took second place, and the junior varsity color guard received third place.

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Several Mars Area Middle School students competed in the annual Youngstown State University English Festival, held virtually April 23.

Andersen Palmer took second place; Isabel Radens took third place; and Julian Coquelet took fourth place in the “Not-So-Trivial Pursuit” contest.

Aubree Machi took second place in the Journalism Award competition for her news article based on her interview of Ruta Sepetys, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction.