STUDENT
Highlights
PMEA Music Honors
Senior McKenzie Mendenhall has
been named to the PMEA All-State Jazz
Chorus. McKenzie stood out in the state-
wide audition process and is one of only
12 girls in the state to be selected. She
will perform at the state convention in
April.
Sophomores CJ Rhen and Becky
Schneirov have also been selected
by audition as members of the PMEA
Region 1 Band. They performed at the
festival in March at Sharon High School.
Pending seating auditions they are also
candidates for the PMEA All-State Band.
Laura Shope (senior) and Lindsay
Turek (sophomore) were selected by
audition as members of the PMEA
District 1 Chorus. They showcased their
talents in the PMEA District 1 Chorus
at Montour High School and also
at the Region 1 Chorus at Gateway
High School.
PTMS Video Partnership
Seven students from Peters
Township Middle School
participated in the “What’s Cool
About Manufacturing” video event
hosted by Catalyst Connections,
a non-profit dedicated to the
promotion of manufacturing in
our region. The entire contest was
student driven, from creating and
planning, to filming and editing.
Under the direction of teacher
Brian Griffin, students Jordan
Collins, Erin Hjerpe, Kara Joseph,
Max Mitchell, Logan Pfeuffer,
Natasha Pokrajac and Shane Young
developed a partnership with AUMA
Actuators in South Point providing
a unique opportunity to view their
manufacturing process, interview
employees, and film their daily
process. To check out their video, visit
dreamitdoitpa.com/contests/2017-
pittsburgh-video-contest/
Peter Township Students Named
National Merit Finalists
Five students from Peters Township
High School have advanced to the
Finalist standing in the National Merit
Scholarship Program. These students
are among an elite group of students
from across the nation being considered
for these scholarships. Seniors Anthony
Biscardo, Mitchell Dubaniewicz, Caroline
Langley, Shreya Sharma and Stephanie
Wang will be notified this spring if they
are selected for one of the scholarships.
These students have been
selected on the basis of their
skills, accomplishments, and
potential for success in rigorous
college studies.
92 Peters Township
Pittsburgh Day at Bower Hill
On February 3, Bower Hill students
celebrated their Pittsburgh pride in
their annual Pittsburgh Day Celebration.
The event is the culmination of their
MATHCOUNTS Honors
Peters Township Middle School
students finished first in the
MathCounts county-wide team
competition and our students
Volleyball Winners
Pittsburgh Day
social studies unit on Western
Pennsylvania and the students had
a chance to take part in many local
traditions – they learned to polka,
made pierogies, created their own
Andy Warhol style art and more!
As part of their study of
the City of Pittsburgh, the third
graders also learned about the
life of baseball great Roberto
Clemente and his work to serve
others. Students were encouraged to
learn from this example and help their
community by donating canned goods.
Their donation to the Peters Township
Food Pantry was a great success with
more than 1,000 cans collected!
National Honor Society Staff
Volleyball Game
Character Letters
Students in Mrs. Riberich’s and
Ms. Kennedy’s 4th grade classrooms
received personalized letters to help
support character in the classroom.
As a surprise for their children, parents
were asked to provide letters from
home that shared what makes the
child unique and what they do to make
their parents proud. The students read
their letter aloud for their classmates
in this lesson that shows that good
character starts at home.
These students advance to the State
competition. In addition, 6th grader,
Michael Hsieh represented McMurray
Elementary at the competition as well
and finished 11th in the individual
category and was the highest ranking
6th grader overall.
Character Letters
also earned the top four individual
honors overall. Members of the first
place team were: Thomas Chang, Nolan
Wang, Sheng Wang and Scott Zhu.
Finishing in the top four places in the
individual competition were: Sheng
Wang, Rachael Gavlik, Thomas Chang,
and Jackson Busche respectively.
On February 2, Peters Township staff
members from throughout the District
took part in the annual volleyball
tournament to benefit the Make-A-
Wish Scholarship Fund. Organized
by the PTHS National Honor Society,
teams from each school along with the
central office building competed for
bragging rights and to raise funds for
this worthwhile cause. The official team
winner was the Middle School, but the
kids were the real winner as $2500 was
raised for the scholarship fund.