Cranberry Township resident Cece Peterson, a volunteer with HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, and her crisis response dog Fergus assisted in Maine following the Lewiston mass shooting this October. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

Cranberry Township resident Cece Peterson, a volunteer with HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, and her crisis response dog Fergus assisted in Maine following the Lewiston mass shooting this October. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

Cranberry Township resident Cece Peterson, a volunteer with HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, and her crisis response dog Fergus assisted in Maine following the Lewiston mass shooting this October. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

Cranberry Township resident Cece Peterson, a volunteer with HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, and her crisis response dog Fergus assisted in Maine following the Lewiston mass shooting this October. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

Cranberry Township resident Cece Peterson, a volunteer with HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, and her crisis response dog Fergus assisted in Maine following the Lewiston mass shooting this October. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

Mars Area High School students were invited to observe an open-heart surgery on Nov. 20, 2023, at Allegheny General Hospital. Seniors Cece Crowley and Addi Girdwood get a bird’s-eye view of the operation as part of the AGH Open-Heart Surgery Observation Program. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

Mars Area High School senior Mira Ramanathan observes an open-heart surgery on Nov. 20, 2023, at Allegheny General Hospital. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

Stephen Bailey, chair for Allegheny Health Network’s Cardiovascular Institute, said AGH’s Open-Heart Surgery Observation Program has served more than 20,000 students since its founding in 2008. Austin Uram/Butler Eagle

FINS Robotics won multiple top prizes at the BEST Robotics competition in October at Grove City College, which secured the team's advancement to regional competition in Denver at Christmastime. Pictured – back row, from left, coach Amy Farrey of Cranberry Township, coach Stella Jones of Gibsonia, coach Brigitte Altland of Baden, coach Laura Tame of Fox Chapel, Aiden Guffey, 16, of Zelienople; David Altland, 15, of Baden; Max Tame, 15, of Fox Chapel; Silas Pickett, 13, of Cranberry Township; Kingston Stamoolis, 14, of Fox Chapel; Zach Sayson, 15, of Cranberry Township; coach Aaron Farrey, of Cranberry Township Middle row, from left, coach Jennie Pickett of Cranberry Township; Abigail Farrey, 18, of Cranberry Township; Kaitlyn Jones, 15, of Gibsonia; Ian Tseng, 15, of McCandless Township; Luke Schroeder, 15, of Cranberry Township; Cassidy Altland, age 13, of Baden Front row, from left, Lucas Davison, 14, of Wexford; ​******** Cooper Jones (age 13) of Gibsonia, Sarah Stepke (age 15) of Bellevue, Norah Pickett (age 11) of Cranberry Twp, Annabel Mete (age 14) of Rochester, Alex Farrey (age 15) of Cranberry Twp, Brady Watkins (age 14) of Glenshaw. Paula Grubbs/Butler Eagle

Abigail Farrey, left, of Cranberry Township, and Coach Brigitte Altland, of Baden, work on the engineering notebook that documented the FINS Robotics team's design and engineering processes. The notebook comprised about 35% of the team's score at the BEST Robotics competition at Grove City College in October. Paula Grubbs/Butler Eagle