Bethel Park School District

June 2016 Highlights

Please enjoy reading about the outstanding achievements of our students and staff!

Congratulations, BPHS Class Of 2016!

• 372 members of the BPHS Class of 2015

• 54 graduated with Honors (QPA 3.5-3.749)

• 43 graduated with High Honors (QPA 3.75-3.999)

• 85 graduated with Highest Honors (QPA 4.0 and above)

• 4 National Merit Scholars and 5 National Merit Commended Students

• Average SAT score—1561 -- 76 points higher than State average and 71 points higher than National average.

• The Class of 2016 earned $$.4 million in scholarships.

FAST FACTS ABOUT THE BPHS CLASS OF 2016

Independence Middle School Receives $20,000 Grant

Independence Middle School was one of 26 area schools to receive a grant from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit’s Center for Creativity, the Grable Foundation, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the Chevron Foundation. The grant was for $20,000 and will be used to transform under-utilized areas in the school’s library into flexible and equipped instructional spaces to be called Steel City Collaboratory and Creation Station, two of the four STEAM (Science, Technology , Engineering, Art and Math) areas to be created throughout the school.

This is the second year a Bethel Park school received this highly competitive grant. Last year Bethel Park High School received this grant to create three STEAM Innovation Studios at the high school.

BPHS Students Honored At Awards And Recognitions Night

Several Bethel Park High School students received awards and scholarships at the Annual Awards and Recognition Night, held on Wednesday, June 1.

In addition to the scholarships presented that evening, students who received other scholarships were presented with certificates of recognition and honor cords were distributed to 182 students to wear at Graduation.

To see a list of the scholarships and awards distributed that evening, please go to: http://www.bpsd.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6GIGYYB&dasi=2PB.

Quill & Scroll Inducts 14

Bethel Park High inducted 14 students into its 2016 class of Quill and Scroll: Natalie Coccagno, Rachel McClaine, Molly McDowell, Jacob Marcovecchio, Phoebe Nerem, Joanna White, Kara Brunner, Noah Gearhart, Tessa Helfer, Ty Miller, Madison Sypherd, Greydon Tomkowitz, Haley Radcliffe and Bailey Sims.

These students were chosen because they excelled in their communications work for either the school newspaper, yearbook, video production studio or literary magazine.

Four BPHS Students Inducted Into National Technical Honor Society

Four Bethel Park High School students were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society at the Steel Center for Career and Technical Education:

• Chi-Anne Ofsonka – Baking/Pastry Arts

• Brian Pietropaolo – Electrical Construction

• Austin Stephon – Electrical Construction

• Maura Tomko -- Cosmetology

Two Students Named

Outstanding Seniors At Steel

Center

The Steel Center for Career and Technical Education presented the following Bethel Park High School students with the Outstanding Senior Award for the work they did in their respective programs:

• Santino Dalessandro – Diesel Mechanics

• Chi-Anne Ofsonka – Baking/Pastry Chef

Alexis Taylor Named May Rotary Student

Of The Month

BPHS senior Alexis Taylor was named the May Student of the Month by the Rotary Club of Bethel Park.

Each month the Rotary Club recognizes a BPHS student for outstanding commitment to school and/or community service.

Alexis was recognized for her membership in the National Honor Society and the Principals Advisory Council for Students, as well as her leadership with the Student Government Association and STAND.

Additionally, she volunteered with Middle School Campus Life and taught Vacation Bible School.

BPHS French News Forty-nine BPHS French students scored in the 50th percentile or higher on the National French Exam, Le Grand Concours 2016.

GOLD MEDAL/95th PERCENTILE --

French II: Joseph Bilski and Jenelle Wu

SILVER MEDAL/85th PERCENTILE—

French V: Shoulammite Soku

French III: Kayla Armstrong, Casey Mack, Adriane Slater, Ryan Cook, Rachel Grant and Madison Newman

French II: Cameron Sillman

BRONZE MEDAL/75th PERCENTILE:

French IV: Katelyn Turoski

French III: Jacob Opie, Haley Radcliffe, Keira Teagardner and Roman Dudowski

French II: Cameron Carroll, Morgan Saunders, Connor Heath, Vanessa Vargo and Kara Wentz

HONORABLE MENTION/50TH -74th PERCENTILE— French V: Morgan Hirsh, Carolyn Kerr, Joseph Kowalski, Macie McKitrick and Zachary Sedor-Schiffhauer French IV: Adella Antkowiak, Natalie Brandt, Katherine Bustamante, Devin Stewart and Emily Williams. French III: Jillian Acker, Alyssa Bradley, Jason Cook, Nicole Dembiczak, Nicole Habjan, Rachel Hankin, Gina Neil, Jessica Scarlett, Preston Smith and Delaney Strzyz French II: Diana Brueggman, Kyleigh Flood, Sarah Fulton, Patra Hsu, Molly Kirik, Anthony Lucchitti, William Martin-Farmer and Thomas Worcester

BPHS German Students Finish In Third Place In German Fantasy Soccer League

Bethel Park High School German students finished in Third Place against 20 teams of high school German students from the U.S., Canada and Mexico in the Goethe Institute’s Fantasy Soccer League.

The students used their German skills to answer questions about specific soccer matchups from the German Professional Soccer League and make predictions. They received an authentic Hertha Berlin soccer jersey signed by U.S. Men’s National Team Player John Brooks.

Participating for BPHS were Ryan Pfab, Julia Angotti, Jen Klara, Jonathan Lucchitti, Ethan Tabler, Brendan Troesch, Evan Aronhalt, Tyler Crider, Sonja Hebestreit, Justin Hollerich, Holly Troesch, Vincent Vituccio and Evan Welsh.

Sports Teams Have Great Spring Season

BOYS VOLLEYBALL • Section Champions for

the sixth consecutive year

• WPIAL Championship Game Finalist

• PIAA Quarterfinalist BASEBALL • Section Champions • WPIAL Playoff Team GIRLS LACROSSE • WPIAL Semifinalist

BOYS LACROSSE • WPIAL Playoff Team SOFTBALL • WPIAL Playoff Team BOYS TENNIS • WPIAL Playoff Team TRACK • 13 Boys and 10 Girls

qualified for the WPIAL Individual Championships.

IMS Students Honored At Eighth Grade Awards Day

Several Independence Middle School eighth graders were recognized at the annual Eighth Grade Awards Assembly for a variety of outstanding achievements, including writing, music, service, foreign language and being a good student and classmate.

A list of winners can be found at: http://www.bpsd.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6GIGY2I&dasi=2PY.

IMS Students Honored At Academic

Excellence Recognition Program

265 students (119 seventh graders and 146 eighth graders) received DISTINGUISHED HONORS for maintaining a minimum 3.75 QPA through the first three nine weeks of the 2015-2016 school year.

78 eighth graders received PRESIDENTIAL ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARDS for maintaining a minimum 3.5 QPA throughout seventh grade and through the first three nine weeks of the 2015-2016 school year and for scoring Advanced on either the PSSA Reading or Math Test.

A complete list of names is available at: http://www.bpsd.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6GIGY00&dasi=2PY.

Congratulations, Katelyn Sams!

Independence Middle School seventh grader Katelyn Sams finished in Second Place in the Finals of the Mathematics Council of Western Pennsylvania’s Algebra Contest, where she competed against students in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Indiana, Westmoreland and Armstrong Counties.

Katelyn was eligible to compete in the Finals because she won the Allegheny County Championship.

William Penn Second Graders

Star In AIU/Penguins

Foundation Video

William Penn Second Graders were the stars of a video made by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to promote the “Kindles in Education” grant program, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation.

In the video, the students showed how they use Kindles in the Library to serve as QR Code Readers, so they could complete an assignment that taught them about the different parts of non-fiction text, which they needed to know for the PSSA Exams.

Lincoln Students Celebrate Successful Accelerated Reader Program With A Carnival

Lincoln Elementary School completed another successful Accelerated Reader Program. The students:

• Read more than 69 million words;

• Took almost 14,500 AR Tests;

• Earned almost 12,800 AR Points.

They used their AR points to participate in a carnival on the school playground, hosted by their teachers, which included games, activities and fun!

Washington Students Learn About Water Recycling

Washington Elementary students learned about the importance of water conservation and how rain barrels can recycle water. Twelve fourth graders submitted designs and they had the opportunity to paint their design on a rain barrel which was donated to their school by an organization called Barrels by the Bay. The students did a great job!

Elementary Gifted Students Participate In Service Learning Projects

Bethel Park Elementary Gifted Students learned the importance of contributing and giving back to the community by participating in a community service project of their choosing. Once their projects were completed, they summarized their experiences by creating a video, slideshow or document that included why, where, when and how pictures, which they submitted digitally through Google Classroom. Some of the projects included community clean-up events, doing something at a nursing home, collecting winter coats and donating hair to locks of love.

German Teacher Selected To Study In Germany

Independence Middle School German Teacher Michael Stang received the American Association of Teachers of German’s Quadrille Stipend to attend the Fortbildungskursus for non-native teacher of German as a Foreign Language at Heidelberg University from August 1-26th. He will be taking courses that will further his knowledge of how to teach German as a foreign language.

The Mission of the Bethel Park School District is to lead an educational partnership with the community, maintaining an environment that challenges all students to reach their potential as lifelong learners and responsible members of

society.

The Bethel Park School

District Where Futures Begin