JACKSON TWP — Recently 23 outstanding Seneca Valley High School students in grades 9-12 were chosen through an audition to perform in the Pennsylvania Music Education Association’s (PMEA) District 5 Honors Choir at Westminster College.

Each year, the PMEA in District 5 holds auditions for the Honors Chorus Festival and students within Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties are eligible to audition.

The Seneca Valley 9-12 choral department is under the direction of Bobi-Jean Alexander and Claire Barker.

Students are listed by their name, chair assignment and grade:

Soprano I:

Anya Maschmeier - Chair 1 - Grade 12

Natalie Palmer - Chair 3 - Grade 11

Shayla Kemp - Chair 10 - Grade 9

Soprano II:

Madelyn Tresky - Chair 2 - Grade 9

Elia Honeycutt - Chair 10 - Grade 12

Giulia Siegfried - Chair 11 - Grade 11

Alto I:

Elizabeth Hixon - Chair 1 - Grade 12

Leta Hixon - Chair 1 - Grade 12

Ella Gemperlein - Chair 3 - Grade 11

Emma Zelesnak - Chair 4 - Grade 11

Josie Sherman - Chair 12 - Grade 11

Alto II:

Ayla Alexander - Chair 1 - Grade 10

Dorothy Vogel - Chair 5 - Grade 12

Tenor I:

Nathan Capizzi - Chair 9 - Grade 9

Colton Marley - Chair 3 - Grade 12

Hunter Connell - Chair 4 - Grade 12

Jackson Hugus - Chair 5 - Grade 11

Christian Schuster - Chair 10 - Grade 10

Bass I:

Callum Williams - Chair 1 - Grade 11

Graham Logue - Chair 4 - Grade 11

Isaac Hixon - Chair 5 - Grade 10

Bass II:

Connor Benson - Chair 4 - Grade 11

Josh Cantella - Chair 11 - Grade 11

FINS Robotics, a team of 16 Butler, Allegheny and Beaver county home-schooled students brought home two major awards this month while competing at the regional Denver BEST Robotics competition. Team members are back row, from left: Lucas Davison, 13, of Wexford; Luke Schroeder, 15, of Cranberry Township; coach Brigitte Altland, of Baden, holding her son, Cullen Altland, 7; Aiden Guffey, 15, of Zelienople; David Altland, 14, of Baden; Zach Sayson, 14, of Cranberry Township; Max Tame, 14, of Fox Chapel; coach Laura Tame, of Fox Chapel; coach Amy Sivley, of Cranberry Township; coach Aaron Farrey, of Cranberry Township. In the middle row is, from left, Corwin Altland, 9, of Baden; Sarah Stepke, 15, of Bellevue; Brady Watkins, 13, of Glenshaw; Abigail Farrey, 16, of Cranberry Township; Ian Tseng, 13, of McCandless; coach Amy Farrey, of Cranberry Township; Clara White, 12, of Cranberry Township; Silas Pickett, 12, of Cranberry Township; and in the bottom row, from left, is Mia Tame, 4, of Fox Chapel; Rose Baumgartner, 5, of Cranberry Township; Yasmine Baumgartner, 14, of Cranberry Township; Austin White, 14, of Cranberry Township; Alex Farrey, 14, of Cranberry Township; coach Chad Stepke, of Bellevue; and Cassidy Altland, 12, of Baden. SUBMITTED PHOTO/JENNIE PICKETT

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FINS Robotics, a team of 16 Butler, Allegheny and Beaver county home-schooled students brought home two major awards this month, while competing at the regional Denver BEST Robotics competition. BEST stands for Boosting Engineering Science and Technology and is a national program with local competition sites in 19 states. It is administered by BEST Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, that sets curriculum and competition standards.

As a team of Christian homeschoolers, they call themselves FINS Robotics. FINS stands for Family Instructors of the northern suburbs (of Pittsburgh). As a team, FINS earned 3rd place in the highest possible award called The BEST award, and the team placed second for the T-shirt design award in the region.

The BEST Award goes to the top three teams that best embody the concepts of boosting engineering, science and technology through teamwork, diversity, sportsmanship, positive attitude and enthusiasm, school and community involvement, creativity and application of the engineering design process.

FINS competed in Golden, Colo. at Colorado School of Mines. against 24 other high school robotics teams with teams hailing from states such as Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, North Dakota and South Dakota

The students have been meeting with their 16 teammates and six coaches three times a week since late August in Cranberry Township. It’s been five years since FINS Robotics has advanced to the regional competition.