Students
Junior Achievement of Western PA has opened registration for the March 10 Empower Her Summit presented by PPG at Carlow University, a female empowerment event focused on connecting high school-aged girls with a dynamic community of female leaders to share meaningful dialogue and identify and strengthen their personal brand.
Attendees will gain opportunities through relationship building and networking, hands-on, life-skills workshops and authentic discussions. These activities will highlight professional development and leadership skills and touch on topics that will prepare them for the real world.
JA will accept registrations from high school-aged participants residing in the 56-county footprint of Western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. To register for the Empower Her Summit or to support the event, visit www.westernpa.ja.org.
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Seneca Valley High School’s Mock Trial team recently competed in the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral Classic, a mock trial competition featuring 49 teams from across the state. At the conclusion of the event, only three teams went undefeated, including Seneca Valley, ultimately earning the team a third-place finish in the annual tournament.
Additionally, Kacy Christensen, a junior, won the Best Attorney Award out of nearly 150 student-attorneys who competed.
The SV Mock Trial Team is made up of students in grades nine through 12 in the gifted program and is advised by Brieana Nassan, intermediate high school gifted support teacher.
Members of the SV Mock Trial Team include Leo Slacker, Calleigh Foulkrod, Jacob Hensley, Julia Acker, Sydney Kratsas Kacy Christensen, Grant Hoover, Nick Porter, Sonya Dietz, Benjamin Carnino, Friyana Sepai, Lilly Hudac, Julia Gibilisco, Katie Mack and Morgan Dunn.
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Five area college students were initiated into Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society, in November.
Students initiated into the society must be sophomores, juniors, seniors or graduate/professional students in the top 35% of their class, demonstrate leadership experience in at least one of the five pillars, and embrace the ODK ideals. Fewer than five percent of students on a campus are invited to join each year.
Recent initiates included Meagan Hrivnak and Evan Schneider, both Duquesne University students from Cranberry Township, and Evalyn Summers of Slippery Rock, Anna deGraaf of Cranberry Township and Allayna Deaven of Grove City, all students at Grove City College.
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Maria Graham of Prospect was inducted into the Lambda Pi Eta NuNu Chapter of Cedarville University's communication honors society. Graham, a junior at the Cedarville University in Ohio will become a lifelong member of one of the National Communication Association's 500 LPH chapters and be recognized for superior academic achievement.
To be eligible, students must hold a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average with 60 semester credits or 90 quarter credit hours completed and a 3.25 GPA for communication studies courses with 12 semester or 18 quarter credit hours completed. Cedarville students must be enrolled in one of the university's three communication majors: communication; broadcasting, digital media and journalism; and professional writing and information design.
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Mars Area High School’s Competition Cheer Team joined in the 11th annual WPIAL Competitive Spirit Championships Jan. 7 at Hempfield Area High School.
The team, which competed in the 3A Small Varsity Division, received a final score of 79.3, earning points in the Cheer (24.4), Stunts (29.5), and Overall (25.4) categories. The team qualified to compete in the 2023 PIAA Competitive Spirit Championships on Jan. 27 and 28 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Team members include seniors Alina Glentzer, Sydney Heim, Lucy Huggins, Elsa Scheide and Madalynn Schwartzbauer; junior Kelley Kozesky; sophomores Mackenzie Aufderheide, Ellie Koma, Gabriella Lapina, Brooke Southwell, Addisyn Vavala and Isabella Yoshioka; and freshmen Riley Carrel, Josie Dressen, Alexandria Lefcakis, Paige Nicholson, Bella Staines, Avery Symchak, Teagan Tumulty and Addison Vargo.
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Several members of Mars Area High School and Mars Area Middle School Chorus were selected to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Junior High Chorus Festival on Jan. 20 at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School.
Ninth-graders Elizabeth Kelly, Aubree Machi and Kiara Van Wyk will join the Ninth Grade Chorus, and eighth-graders Emma Ladesic, Zoe Lutzic, Claire Norris, Alayna Renton, Elaina Riegler and Jenna Smith will perform with the Seventh & Eighth Grade Chorus.
The festival will be held in memory of the late Don Hixon, the former PMEA director who developed and implemented the District 5 Junior High Chorus Festival. Hixon, a Seneca Valley graduate, succumbed to cancer at age 44 in January 2022.
