Student Directory

March 10, 2012 Last Updated: March 10, 2012 10:56 AM Student Directory

Ellen Balkey

Trevor Guercio, a student at Knoch High School, and

Nora Wagner, a student at Butler High School, have been selected to represent Pennsylvania as National Youth Delegates at the 2012 Washington Youth Summit on the Environment from June 24 to 29 at George Mason University.The two join a group of 250 students from all across the country honored with the opportunity for an intensive study of leadership in environmental science and conservation.

Thirteen seventh- and eighth-grade students from Butler Catholic School competed at the Feb. 25 Regional competition for the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science at Slippery Rock University.The first place student winners with an opportunity to go on to the State competition in May at Penn State University were:Eighth graders: Megan Goettler, Brock Grenci, Sarah Dodd, Julie Kasunic, Allie Hartle, Claire Preston and Lily Murray.Seventh graders: Will Morgus, Steven Patterson, Amara Dorcy, Kiara LaRocca and Austin Monday.Seventh grader Maggie Moses took second place.Will also received the Director's Award from the Region IX committee for Junior High Chemistry for his project “Pyrotechnic Problem.”The PJAS Special Award from the Slippery Rock University Chemistry Department for Junior High Chemistry was given to Julie for her project “Great Globs of Gluten.”

The following Butler County students were awarded honors at the Pittsburgh Technical Institute’s 2012 Visions and Voices.All winners receive a partial tuition scholarship to PTI in these amounts:Honorable mention, $2,000; third place, $3,000; second place, $4,000; and best of category, $6,000.Olivia Foss of Seneca Valley High School won third place in the computer graphics category for “I Will Not Cry.”Payton McCombs of Butler County Vocational Technical School won honorable mention in the computer graphics category for “Taylor Swift Typography.”Kiley Shuman of Butler County AVTS/Seneca Valley High School won best of category for photography with “Last Stop.”Blake Evans and Erica Zanicky, both of Butler County AVTS, both won honorable mention in the photography category for their works, “Becoming Transparent” and “Open Skys.”Laura Stewart of Seneca Valley High School won third place in the fine art 2-D category with “Chi Town.”Honorable mention in the fine art 2-D was given to Molly Sweeney of Seneca Valley High School for her work “Off Resolution Self Portrait”Sara Kipin of Seneca Valley High School won second place for “Candy Squid” in the fine art 3-D category.Sarah Holzer of Seneca Valley High School won second place in the ceramics category for “Psychology of Self.”———Jessie Foertsch of Butler will defend her Honors theses in Westminster’s new four-year All-College Honors Program.Foertsch’s thesis is “A Glimpse into the Mind of a Late-18th-Century American Traveler: Travel Literature Illustrates a National History and Identity.”Foertsch is a daughter of Albert and Debora Foertsch of Butler and a graduate of Knoch High School.Foertsch and Luke Franchuk of Butler also presented their papers at the Phi Alpha Theta biennial conference Jan. 3 to 7 in Orlando, Fla.Franchuk’s paper was “Thank Allah for Oil: Saudi Arabia, Royal Succession, and Religious Tradition.”———Ellen Balkey of Butler was awarded a full scholarship to attend Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week 2012. Ellen is the daughter of David and Kathleen Balkey and is a junior at Knoch High School.———Franchuk is a son of Gary and Patrice Franchuk of Butler and a graduate of Shady Side Academy.———Anna Christy of Sarver was named a Chemistry Department Emerging Research Scholar at Saint Vincent College.———Justin Dennis of Butler was named to the President’s List at Sanford Brown Institute, under the medical assistant program.———Alex Schirra and Tracey Schirra, both of Butler, competed Feb. 25 with other students of the Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh in the Divisional competition of the U.S. Department of Energy Southwestern Pennsylvania Region.The two Aquinas Academy teams ended the day with identical records of six wins, three losses and one tie. The tie was the result of facing each other.———Kelley Clarke of Harmony will spend her spring term at Mercyhurst University in Dungarvan, Ireland, from March 1 to May 12.Clarke is a junior majoring in Intel studies.———Ryan Hartman of Butler is helping to design and build an environmentally friendly vehicle as a member of the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team competing in EcoCAR 2: Plugging In To the Future.EcoCAR 2 is a three-year competition that challenges 15 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles by designing a vehicle that reduces emissions and consumes less petroleum.———Richard Ciora of Butler was part the first place winning team in the 2011-12 Pennsylvania Real World Design Competition.Ciora’s team won for their design of an aerodynamic and energy efficient aircraft wing.The team will move on to the national competition, which will conclude with a team presentation in Washington, D.C., in April.———Lisa Kaylor of Chicora participated in the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics Jan. 27 to 29 in Lincoln, Neb.Kaylor, a junior mathematics major at Westminster College, gave an oral presentation on “Straightline Hanoi,” a variation of the original Tower of Hanoi puzzle.The presentation previously earned an Outstanding Presentation award at the Mathematical Association of America’s MathFest last summer.Kaylor is a daughter of Karen Kaylor of Chicora and the late Terry Kaylor. She is a graduate of Karns City High School.———Patrick Gillen of Emlenton and Katherine Kosiorek of Slippery Rock performed March 4 in the Lock Haven (Pa.) University concert, “Hallelujah! It’s Almost Spring!”———Cody Wright of Harmony performed with the Lock Haven University Concert Band on March 1.