Hundreds of pupils in seven Western Pennsylvania counties in the 2020-21 academic year studied economic concepts and gained financial literacy skills through Butler County Community College's Stock Market Game.

BC3 honored fourth-graders through seniors who placed first through third in the college's Stock Market Game competitions at the Western Region 2021 Awards Ceremony on May 4 on BC3's main campus.

BC3's Center for Economic Education administers 10-week Stock Market Game competitions in the fall and spring, and a 30-week competition that begins in September, to pupils in grades four through 12.

Fourth-graders through seniors competed in BC3's two, 10-week or 30-week Stock Market Games in 2020-21. During the competition, pupils receive a hypothetical $100,000, make buy-and-trade decisions and track how those decisions would have played out in the market had they been real.

Teammates Brianna Buccini and Zachary Garcia, seniors at Seneca Valley High School added $67,591.48 to their portfolio and placed first in the region and in Pennsylvania in the 30-week competition.

Among first- through third-place teams in the Western Region were:

Fall: Rylee Hurley, Alfons Semmler and Edwin Wilczynski, Butler Intermediate High School, Butler, first place in the region and in Pennsylvania; Gianna Pauling and Aiden Tomaszewski, Butler Intermediate High School, third place in the region and in Pennsylvania.Spring: Jameson Callender, Blayde Painter and Brayden Wolfe, Butler Intermediate High School, first place in the region and third place in Pennsylvania; Joshua Craig, Emberlynn Holzwarth and Isabella Morales, Butler Intermediate High School, second place; and Emma Bruno, Olivia Burket, Samuel Gillgrist and David McCollum, Butler Intermediate High School, third place.

Yearlong: Buccini and Garcia, Seneca Valley High School, first place in the region and in Pennsylvania; and Logan Barnhart, Amber Campbell and Hailey Campbell, Moniteau Junior-Senior High School, second place in the region and in Pennsylvania.———Seneca Valley juniors Veronica Pimenova and Daniel Spear were recently recognized by the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing.Veronica was selected as a 2021 Central and Western Pennsylvania Affiliate Winner, and Daniel was chosen as a 2021 Central and Western Pennsylvania Affiliate Honorable Mention recipient.Awardees are chosen for their aptitude and interest in IT and computing, solid leadership ability, good academic history, and plans for post-secondary education.The Western and Central PA affiliate of the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing is a collaborative effort by volunteers from Saint Francis University; Penn State University, New Kensington; University of Pittsburgh; Carnegie Mellon University and All Clear Translations.———Out of 26 states across the nation, the Seneca Valley Academic Decathlon Team placed fourth in the large school division at the (virtual) United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) National Competition on April 30.Each high school competed with a team of nine students in eight events: art, music, literature, social science, economics, mathematics, science and essay. All subjects are related to the 2020-21 theme: The Cold War.The following students won national competition awards:Allison Flatt — Gold Division Literature Honor, Gold Division Art Honor, Silver Division Social Science Honor, Bronze Division Music HonorShanker Pillai — Gold Division Essay Varsity, Bronze Division Mathematics VarsityNicholas Nedzesky — Gold Division Essay HonorThe Seneca Valley Academic Decathlon National Team includes Allison Flatt, Nicholas Nedzesky, Kason Kunkelmann, Mia Chevallier, Rayan Ghaffar, Nancy Chen, Shanker Pillai, Ashley Eury and Grace Johnson.———Two Seneca Valley students in Dan McKosky's video production classes brought home awards from Robert Morris' Digital Media Arts Consortium student video contest earlier this month.Sophomore Evelyn Vogel won in the News Package category for her video detailing the instructional changes arising from inclement weather this year.Senior Ethan Bannon's original senior project film “Opus” won in the Digital Cinema category.“Robert Morris has been holding this contest for nearly 25 years, and dozens of schools from Western Pennsylvania participate each year,” said McKosky, video production and SVTV adviser.“Even during a chaotic year, SVTV students were able to produce great work.”