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Tiger NewsUpcoming eventsMay 5 – 16 AP Testing @ NASH

May 12 – 23 Keystone Exam Spring Testing Window

May 21 25-Year Employee Recognition and School Board Work Session @ CAO Bd. Rm. 7pm

May 26 Memorial Day (No School)

May 28 DAA Ceremony and School Board Combined Mtg. @ CMS Auditorium 7pm

Please RSVP –Call 412-369-5445

NASH Ranked One of the Top High Schools in USAThe NA Senior High School was named the 12th Most Challenging High School in Penn-sylvania in the Washington Post’s 2014 list of America’s Most Challenging High Schools. This ranking takes into consideration the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaure-ate, and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given each year, as well as the number of seniors who graduate.

In the same month, U.S. News and World Report awarded NASH a Silver Medal for the seventh consecutive year, also ranking NASH the 12th best high school in Pennsylvania.

Prom 2014

One of the most anticipated – and glamorous – events of every school year is the Senior Prom. On Saturday, April 26, a total of 578 high school students turned out in their finest for an evening of celebration at the Omni William Penn. As is the tradi-tion, prom was followed by a fabulous Post-Prom Party from midnight to 5 AM at NASH. This year’s theme was ‘You Gotta Believe’ – and thanks to the parent committee that made this event happen, 456 students enjoyed a night to remember.

Prom begins the official count-down to graduation for seniors. AP exams follow in the first two weeks of May. The Student Excellence Awards Program is scheduled for May 19. The NASH Top Scholars Banquet is on May 22; May 26 – June 6 is the Final Exam period; and the Senior Banquet is on May 30. Graduation for the Class of 2014 will be held on June 13. Mr. Sieminski, NASH principal, provided a more detailed list of key dates and other information essential to parents of seniors via email recently. To view another copy of that information, please visit the NASH webpage by clicking HERE.

Friday, May 2, 2014 7 – 10pm

Photos courtesy of Jonathan Clemmer

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Announcing the NA Shopping Program.The NA Shopping Program is a fund-raising initiative to support the North Allegheny School District. By clicking on the Amazon banner on our website, you will be directed to the Amazon website to shop. Any purchases you make will earn money for NASD. You can support the School District by simply doing your regular online shop-ping in this way. For more information, please CLICK HERE.

Middle School Girls IT Day at CISCO

On April 24, twenty-five middle school girls from each of the NA middle schools attended a free

career exploration event sponsored by CISCO at their headquarters on the North Shore in Pittsburgh.

The purpose of the program was to encourage young girls to consider the importance and impact of technology-related job opportunities. Nearly twenty professional women from companies includ-ing CISCO, Alcoa, Bombardier, Fiserv, Avere, and Mylan Labs also attended to share their experiences as leaders in the workplace. Girls were urged to begin preparing for their futures by selecting STEM-related courses and developing confident social skills.

Across the country, this same workshop experience was being conducted by CISCO in Herndon, VA and Chicago, IL. All three groups of girls were able to ex-tend their conversations cross-country using CISCO video-conference technologies.

The women presenting the various workshops em-phasized several key points. The first was the impor-tance of excellent communication skills. The second was the wide range of careers in the IT field. They ex-plained that not all opportunities are for technicians working with hardware and wires. IT companies need sales people, trainers, human resource profes-sionals, marketing and communications specialists, and etc. In addition, many other career fields are critically dependent on technology expertise as part of their everyday functions. Women in fields such

as engineering architecture, security, and medical research provided first-hand examples of the impor-tance of technology in their work.

The NA girls were accompanied by several female members of the NA faculty: Mrs. Ellen Green, Chairperson of the Department of Technology and Engineering Education; Mrs. Dana Oliver, Instruc-tional Technology Specialist; and three middle school counselors, Mrs. Stokes, Ms. Connor, and Mrs. Vaidnais.

“It was amazing to watch the transformation in the girls over the course of the day,” said Mrs. Green. “In the morning, they seemed a little intimidated. But by the end of the experience, they were open and excited, sharing their experiences and asking questions. I was delighted when someone asked how many girls thought they would now be interested in going into a tech field in the future and 90% of the girls raised their hands!”

The need for more women professionals in the field of technology is an on-going theme in the work-place overall and a focus at CISCO specifically.

If you are interested in the issue of women in technology, you may wish to watch this video called “Breaking Stereotypes in Technology,” during which CISCO CTO Padmasree Warrior talks about the importance of role models for women in technol-ogy, and ending gender stereotypes in STEM fields, CLICK HERE.

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Class of 2014 Senior Video

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DECA Students Shine in State ConferenceSix students earned top awards at the 63rd Annual State Career Development Conference in Hershey, PA. Emmie Bish, Abbey Kirken-doll and David Bursic placed First in the Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research Event. Emmie, Abbey, and David are the only team out of all written events to receive 100% for both their written report and their presentation.

Additionally, Tyler Saundry placed First in Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Alexis Provenzano placed Second in Principles of Finance, and Katie Franc placed Fourth in Principles of Hospitality and Tourism.

These six students have qualified to compete at the upcoming DECA International Career Development Confer-ence being held in Atlanta, Georgia where attendance is anticipated to be in excess of 16,000.

NA DECA also brought home 8 awards for top scores in test and role play areas of marketing. Students winning medallions for top scores on

their test or role play are Zach Hughs, Tyler Saun-dry, Jake Neugebauer, Alexis Provenzano, Kelly Tagliaferre and Katie Franc.

MMS Team Finishes in Final Four of Academic TournamentCongratulations to the Marshall Middle School National Academic League team who made it to the ‘Final 4’ Round of the 2014 Terrel H. Bell Na-tional Tournament of Academic Excellence.

In the tournament, teams of students play a four-quarter academic game consisting of questions spanning 22 subjects. The subjects are grouped under the basic curriculum areas of math, English/language arts, science and social studies.

Ms. Dana Boyd and Mr. Dan Williams are coaches to the MMS team, which consists of the following students:

Jordana AvigadArlen BelitskyMason BalckburnOwen ChaseTess ChristensenJiangfeng ChuTommy ConnorAlex Eggert

John EhlingEthan EichlebergerTJ FaberAaron GreenbergJeremy HartSebastian ImmonenMohammed KhatamiTess Majewski

Amy MuhlenkampAlex NillJohn-Thomas RobinsonJoseph ShinRiley SmithWill TaftIan Young

Nineteen Students Named Academic All-AmericansNineteen senior high school students have been recognized as Academic All-Americans by the National Speech & Debate Association. No other school in the United States has as many students who have achieved this level of excellence since the recognition began in 2006.

They are:

Kayla BadamoSurabhi BeriwalDrew BjorklundChris ChangMarisa DelSignore

Erica FanJason Hu Maria LaBellaNatalie MorrisseyBrandon Raymond

Anisha ReddySarah RicciMedha SharmaAnnie SippelPragna Sutrave

Wesley Swanson Michael TaiHemanth VenkateshCatherine Zhang

In order to receive this recognition, students had to earn a degree of Superior Distinction or higher in speech and debate, excel in the classroom by achieving a 3.7 or higher, earn a score of 2000 or higher on the SATs or at least 27 on the ACTs, and have representatives at their school attest to their character and leadership.

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Songela Chen Advances to International Science & Engineering FairJunior Songela Chen’s project titled n-3 PUFAs Benefit Microglial Response to Myelin Pathology won her numerous honors at the 75th annual Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Songela won a First Place Category award, two Sponsor awards, and an Affiliate award. In addition, Songela has been awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles, CA to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Many other middle and high school students from across the District also participated in the fair in March. Twenty NA students claimed a total of 41 prestigious awards.

The Pittsburgh Science Fair is a competition of research projects in the fields of science, mathemat-ics and engineering and is open to all students in grades 6-12. Each year more than 1,000 students from the 26 counties within Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia compete for over $1M in cash prizes and scholarships. To view the complete list of winners, CLICK HERE.

Cast Your Vote for NA Musicians in Musical Kids CompetitionNASD is proud to announce that six young musicians from NA Middle Schools have been selected as finalists for their piano performances in the Classical WQED 89.3 Musical Kids competition. A total of twelve finalists have been selected from among 40 regional entries for the piano, violin, cello, classical guitar, and singing. The six NA students who earned a spot as a finalist are:

Christopher Fedor, Marshall Middle School

Enoch Hsiao, Marshall Middle School

Amanda Lu, Ingomar Middle School

Rebeka Rest, Marshall Middle School

William Wang, Ingomar Middle School

Andrew Zhang, Carson Middle School

WQED currently has video recordings of the finalists’ performances available online. Community members are invited to cast online votes for their favorite finalist from April 11 through 30 at www.wqed.org/musicalkids. One of six winners will be chosen by the public through the online voting portal. The remaining winners will be selected by the Musical Kids judges comprised of local classical music experts.

Winners will be announced Monday, May 5 on Classical WQED-FM 89.3.

Technology Education Highlights STEMThis is a turning point year for the Technology Education Depart-ment. They have completed their Interim Curriculum Review. It presents considerable changes, especially related to the inte-gration of STEM content and a renewed focus on the integration and incorporation of current busi-ness and industry trends. Moving forward, this Department will be known as the Department of Technology and Engineering Educa-tion, which reflects their on-going commitment to integrating STEM skills, problem-based learning opportunities, and the preparation of students for success in a highly technical world.

“A number of new STEM-related courses will be implemented into the secondary Program of Studies over the next three school years - including Game Development, App Development, and Robotics 3,” said Mrs. Ellen Green, Depart-ment Chair. “Our plan also includes the assurance of a STEM-based experience for every middle school

student. We are developing a partnership with the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Academy which is very exciting.”

To read more about the recommendations in the Interim Curriculum Review, CLICK HERE.

Rebeka

Andrew

William

Enoch

Christopher

Amanda

WQED Musical Kids Contestants

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GOAL Students Volunteer as “Big Brothers/Big Sisters”In November, NA student Bret Anne Serbin won First Place in the “No Child Hungry” national writing contest. Bret received a $1,000 scholarship, $500 to donate to a charity of her choice (the North Hills Community Outreach’s food pantries), and $1,000 to spend on a project at the NA Senior High School.

After many hours of discussion and plan-ning, the NASH project was determined to be a year-long partnership with the Grand-view Elementary School in the Pittsburgh Public School District. NASH partnered with Mrs. Jeanine Airesman’s 4th grade class. Twenty-two NASH students were selected to serve as “Big Brother/Big Sister” Pen Pals to the 4th grade Grandview students. The students exchanged letters throughout the year and partici-pated in shared experiences, such as Earth Hour and the Fairchild Challenge.

Under the direction of NASH GOAL teachers, Mrs. Janellen Lombardi and Mrs. Kathy Will, NASH students traveled to Grandview to run Earth Day activities for the children on April 22. Ms. Chelsea Biegler, from the North Hills Community Outreach, presented on the topic of planting and maintaining an urban garden. The Pen Pals worked together to plant sunflowers in recycled containers. The NASH students ran four stations for the children: Art, Recycling Games, Healthy Eating and Exercise, and Gardening. The day concluded with a pizza party and a celebration in Grandview Park.

NA students and staff had a wonderful experience with the Grandview students and NASH hopes to continue the partnership into the future.

There is still time to sign up for Summer fun!Deadline for registration - Tuesday, May 6th

June 16 – 27, 2014Peebles Elementary

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Kennywood Day 2014June 19, 2014

Sponsored by the Unified Boosters OrganizationClick here for Funday Discount Tickets

$28.00 ($40.99 at Gate)

CMS Math Team Achieves High Ranking in Math CompetitionStudents from Carson Middle School recently com-peted in the 2014 Purple Comet! Math Meet and won First Place in Pennsylvania. Their overall score in the competition placed them 23rd in the United States and 33rd in the world, an incredible achieve-ment. The team was comprised of students Logan Herman, Tony Kim, Frank Li, Tolik Borisov, Sunjae Lee, and Ethan James and was supervised by math teacher Mr. Stephen Heckmann.

The Purple Comet! Math Meet is a free, annual, in-ternational mathematics competition designed for middle and high school students that has been held every year since 2003. Teams compete by submit-ting solutions to a list of mathematics problems in a specific amount of time. This year’s contest included 2,970 teams from 41 countries worldwide.

First Place in Debate

Congratulations to the High School Speech and De-bate Team for winning First Place at the Pennsylvania High School Speech League’s state championships.

Tune in to Watch NA Team Compete in Hometown HiQ.

A team of NA students consisting of John Barc-zynski, Songela Chen, and Dominic Moore are participating in the Hometown HiQ competition. Their upcoming match will be broadcast on KDKA on May 10, 2014.

NASH Team Earns Recognition in Math ChallengeA team of five students recently earned an Honorable Mention Award and a $1,000 prize broken down into scholarships of $200 each in the Moody’s Mega Math (M3) Challenge. The team consisted of seniors John Barczynski, Mike Becich, and juniors Songela Chen, Sean Geiger, and Bobby Upton.

Teams from 45 states competed in this year’s challenge and 1,152 papers were submitted for consideration. Only 5.6% of the papers submitted were selected for recognition.

NA Students Excel in State Math CompetitionNorth Allegheny high school students achieved excellent results in the Pennsylvania Mathematics League (PAML) competition. The NA team of students earned First Place in Allegheny County and finished Seventh Place overall in Pennsylvania. Additionally, sophomore Gabe Ren and senior John Barczynski were named individually to the High Scorers Honor Roll.

The PAML high school contest is comprised of six exams taken throughout the school year that require students to extend their classroom math-ematical skills to relevant problem-solving in real world scenarios. Scores from each of the six exams are cumulatively tracked to determine each school’s total score for final placement.

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NASH Safe Driving Magazines HonoredFifteen NASH students participated in a program for “Decide to Drive: A Student Advocacy Program,” created in partnership by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the Auto Alliance, and Scho-lastic, Inc. These students worked in teams to create magazines to encourage their peers to make good choices behind the wheel.

NASH students created four magazines, each of which won an Honorable Mention. Their magazines were all praised as “thoughtfully composed and creatively packaged.”

The magazines were created by the following groups of students: (click on the students’ names to view each group’s magazine)

Jason Hu, Natalie Morrissey, Marisa Delsignore, Michael Tai

Sisi Tang, Anna Sinelnikova, Jennifer Hofman

Audrey Immonen, Charlie Brickner, Cassie Majewski, Bobby Upton

Erica Fan, Maddie Lambert, Lena Vodovitz, and Ann Sippel.

#TobaccoFreeIMSIngomar Middle School held their annual Kick Butts Day on Friday, April 11th encouraging youth to stand out, speak up, and seize control against tobacco!

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2014 Golf ClassicMonday, June 16, 2014

Register Today.For more information, contact Sally Scherling at 412-369-5419

Paid advertisements in District communica-tions and/or on District property do not repre-sent the District’s endorsement or approval of the matters or organizations represented in the advertisements. (School Board Policy #2580 – Approved Commercial Advertising.)

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Wake Me Up to Connect With NatureCarson Middle School seventh grade GOAL students won First Place with their music video, “Wake Me Up,” in the Fairchild Challenge at Phipps. This eco-challenge in the competition tasked students with creating a music video to promote increased contact with nature. The video is just under three minutes long and inspires their peers to “take a break from all the screens” and “wake me up to connect with nature.” In addition to earning First Place, the music was featured on public radio in April.

NA Junior Earns Second in Westinghouse CompetitionJunior Brian Leubbert-Hill earned Second Place in the Westinghouse Science Honors Institute com-

petitive exam. During the 2013-14 school year, Brian participated in a series of Sat-urday morning lectures on an array of science and engineer-

ing topics for selected juniors. Approximately 500 juniors were admitted to the program this year.

NA Students Sweep Local Competition.NA students swept the University of Pittsburgh’s 10th Annual High School Integration Bee with First, Second and Third Place finishes in early April. Sophomore James McGaa earned First Place, while senior Mike Becich and sophomore Gabe Ren tied for Second.

The Integration Bee is an educational event orga-nized like a spelling bee, where students must cor-rectly evaluate indefinite or definite, proper, single real variable integrals in the time allotted. There are several rounds of competition before a final lightning round.

NASH Students Achieve High Scores in Linguistics OlympiadSenior Sohail Sidique and Junior Songela Chen ad-vanced to the second round of the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad, a competition requiring students to solve problems in language analysis from languages around the world. This is a remarkable achievement. The Open Round of the Olympiad was held in January and consisted

of 1,645 university and high school students from across the United States and Canada. Only the top 10% of scorers, 165 total students, were invited to the Invitational Round in March.