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Bethel Park School District
March 2015 Highlights
Please enjoy reading about the
outstanding achievements of our students
and staff!
Bethel Park High School Honors National Merit
Students
Bethel Park High School held a luncheon to honor its eight National Merit
Scholarship Program Students:
FINALISTS:
• Gabrielle Brookins, Steven Davis and Emily Kukan. These students are
now eligible to receive one of 8,000 National Merit Scholarships to be
awarded this Spring.
COMMENDED STUDENTS:
• Joseph Beaver, Aaron Coplan, Alexander Fleming, Jessica George and
Giffin Werner. These students were among the top 50,000 scorers on the
PSAT in the nation as Juniors.
Mock Trial Team
Advanced To Quarterfinals
In only its second year of existence, the Bethel Park
High School Mock Trial Team, qualified for the
Allegheny County Mock Trial Playoffs, defeating
Sewickley Academy in the First Round and advancing
to the Quarterfinals before being eliminated.
Members of the team are Natalie Lalama, Emily
Augustine, Jack Brownfield, Danika Moody, David
Erzen and Elliott Lehmann.
31 DECA Students are Finalists
at State Competition; 18 Earn
Medallion Awards
FINALISTS
• Courtney Maslanka, Sammy Schweitzer and Paige
Swindell—Second Place/Learn and Earn Event *
• Cassie Brown, Abby Hartzell and Kelsey Tischler—
First Place/Creative Marketing Project *
• Tasha George and Carolyn Vona—First
Place/Hospitality Services Team *
• Becca Kubiczki—First Place/Hospitality and Tourism
Professional Selling *
• Natalie Lalama—First Place/Restaurant and Food
Service Management *
• Sean McClaine—First Place/Marketing
Management *
• Tara Nath—First Place Hotel and Lodging
Management *
• Sarah Stephan—First Place/Food Marketing *
• Tarush Bahl—Second Place/Personal Financial
Literacy *
• Emma Bruno and Justin Nath—Second
Place/Marketing Communications Team *
• Emily Kukan—Second Place/Hotel and Lodging
Management *
• Brian Malarkey--Second Place/Principles of
Hospitality and Tourism *
• Corinne Swogger—Second Place/Financial Consulting
Event *
• Sabrina Tatalias—Second Place/Principles of Finance*
• Carolyn Cook, Chandler Dietz and Christian Frazier—
Third Place/Buying and Merchandising Operations
Research *
• Maura Ellsworth—Fourth Place/Quick Serve
Restaurant Management *
• Jaime Gerst and Megan Tomasetti—Fourth
Place/Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research *
• Rachel Kimberland and Nick Marsteller—Fourth
Place/Public Relations Plan *
• Devin Andres—Fourth Place/Job Interview *
• Noah Friday—Fifth Place/Professional Selling Event *
• Lucian Dean—Fifth Place/Logistics *
Students with an * after their event qualified to compete
at the DECA International Career Development
Conference in April in Orlando, FL.
MEDALLION AWARDS
Tarush Bahl, Emma
Bruno, Justin Nath,
Lucian Dean, Maura
Ellsworth, Tasha
George, Carolyn Vona,
Becca Kubiczki, Emily
Kukan, Natalie Lalama,
Brian Malarkey, Sean
McClaine, Tara Nath,
Sarah Stephan, Sabrina
Tatalias, Miles Turner,
Maggie Wolf and
Harrison Zelt.
Science Bowl Teams Earn Accolades
Two Bethel Park High School Teams earned accolades at the 24th
Annual Science Bowl.
DIVISION CHAMPIONS
Sean McClaine
Akhil Rajasekar
Max Reese
Brendan Troesch
Trey Williams
CIVILITY AWARD
for Behaving Professionally
and Showing Extreme Sportsmanship
Emily Augustine
Billy dePoutiloff
Rachel Dimmock
Zachary Kraska
Adam Musciano
BPHS Students Excel On National German
Exams
LEVEL 4 EXAM (out of 133 students)
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Joseph Beaver – Third Place/Gold
Award
Steven Davis – Third Place/Gold Award
Corinne Hebestreit -- Fifth Place/Gold
Award
Jack Brownfield – Sixth Place/Gold
Award
Matea Pranjic – Eighth Place/Gold
Award
Rachel Dodson, Thomas Weber and
Joey Wasko – Silver Awards
Rebecca Swaney and Grant Wilson –
Bronze Awards
Grace McCurry, Adelai Flowers,
Brendan Kail, Sean Allen, Natalie
Lalama, Ashley Slade and Devin
Stewart – High Achievement Awards
LEVEL 3 EXAM (out of 133 students)
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Brendan Troesch– Sixth Place/Gold
Award
Ethan Tabler – Bronze Award
Austin Weidner, Jeff Hoffmann, Ryan
Pfab, Jen Klara, Danielle Gutherol
and Logan Runco – Achievement
Awards
BPHS Students Bring Home Awards From
German Day Competition
Bethel Park High School German students competed against students from 12 area
schools to earn two First Place, four Second Place and two Third Place Awards at the
2015 Three Rivers German Day Competition at Washington and Jefferson College.
FIRST PLACE
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Rachel Dodson – Culture Bowl
Joe Wasko – Non-Fiction Writing
SECOND PLACE
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Corinne Hebestreit -- Culture Bowl
Brendan Troesch – Non-Fiction Writing
Adelai Flowers – Drawing
Julia Angotti – Folkloric Arts and Crafts
THIRD PLACE
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Jack Brownfield – Non-Fiction Writing
Becca Najdzinski – Poetry Writing
BPHS Art Students Win Newspaper
Rack Makeover Contest
Thirty Bethel Park High School Art
Club students gave one of The
Almanac’s newspaper racks an
“extreme makeover” and won
$300 for the Club in this year’s
Extreme Rack Makeover Contest.
Students from five high schools in
The Almanac’s circulation area
were given a newspaper rack and
asked to spruce it up. The BPHS
students worked collaboratively to
transform the rack into the
Cathedral of Learning with King
Kong hanging off the top.
If you haven’t seen the rack yet,
you can still view it at The Galleria.
Emily Augustine Selected For Governor’s School
Bethel Park High School junior Emily
Augustine was one of 54 Pennsylvania
juniors selected to attend the prestigious
Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the
Sciences, which will be held this summer on
the Carnegie Mellon University campus.
Emily was selected from a pool of 390
applicants and she will have the
opportunity to live on the CMU campus and
participate in several hands-on science
activities.
Jess Cook Honored By Bethel Park Rotary Club
BPHS Senior Jess Cook was named the
February Student of the Month by the
Rotary Club of Bethel Park in recognition of
her involvement with student life at Bethel
Park High School as Student Government
Association President, as well as her work
with the Principals Advisory Council for
Students, the National Honor Society and
the BPHS Softball Team. Jess also
volunteers at her church as a CCD teacher
and has coordinated several Youth Softball
Clinics to encourage young girls to get
involved with the sport.
Every month the Rotary Club recognizes an
outstanding Bethel Park High School
student for commitment to school and/or
community.
Five BPHS Vocalists To
Sing In All-State Chorus
Five Bethel Park High School musicians were selected to sing in the
Pennsylvania Music Educators All-State Chorus Concert, which will be held
during the PMEA State Conference in Hershey.
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Joshua Como (Bass 1)
Marie Dykstra (Soprano 2)
Anna Henkels (Soprano 1)
Michael Krut (Bass 2)
Joe Serafini (Tenor 1)
Two BPHS Musicians Selected For AllState Band
Bethel Park High School musicians Chris Bright (Percussion) and Joe
Wasko (Tuba) successfully auditioned and were selected to play in
the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s All-State Band
Concert, which will be held during the PMEA State Conference in
Hershey.
Two BPHS
Musicians Selected
For Region
Orchestra
Bethel Park High School musicians Samantha Smith
(Violin) and David Uhlmann (Percussion) successfully
auditioned and played in the Pennsylvania Music
Educators Association’s Region Orchestra Concert,
which was held in March.
BPHS Drama Club Helps
Memorial Students Feed
The Need To Read
Bethel Park High School Drama Club
students created an updated version
of their original “Feed the Need to
Read” production and brought the
2015 version to Memorial Elementary
School to encourage the students to
read, as the school’s Accelerated
Reader Program kicked off.
Some of this year’s characters
included Pete the Cat, the Very
Hungry Caterpillar, the Moose with a
Muffin, Anna and Elsa and some of
the Letter People!
Winter Sports 2015
WRESTLING
• Qualified for the WPIAL Team Playoffs.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
• Paul Dunn was a Section Champion and finished
• WPIAL Semifinalists
in Third Place at the State Wrestling
• Advanced to the Second Round of the State
Championships. He also defeated his opponent
Championships
from Illinois at the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic.
• Nino Bonaccorsi was a Section Champion and
• Section Champions
finished in Sixth Place at the State Wrestling
BOYS BASKETBALL
Championships.
• WPIAL Quarterfinalists and qualified for the
• Nino Bonaccorsi, Paul Dunn, Jason Montgomery,
PIAA State Championship Play-In Game.
Jeremy Huwe, Adam Montgomery, Chris Pauley
CHEERLEADING
and Korey Patterson qualified for the WPIAL
• Finished in Third Place at the WPIAL
Individual Championships.
Cheerleading Championships.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
• Received the GTM Sportswear PIAA Team
• Becca Yonek and Vinny Tavoletti medaled at the
Spirit Award at the State Championships.
WPIAL Championships in two events each and
qualified for States.
• Earned one Second Place and two Third Place
• Brionna Litwin finished in Seventh Place and
awards at the National High School
Maria Capozzi finished in Eighth Place at the
Cheerleading Championships.
WPIAL Diving Championships.
RIFLE
HOCKEY
• Shawn Halligan finished in Fourth Place at
• Qualified for the Penguin Cup Playoffs.
the WPIAL Championships and Becca Kinzel
INDOOR TRACK
finished in 16th. Both competed in the State
• Lexi Stevenson qualified for the State Indoor Track
Championships.
Meet for the fourth consecutive year.
73 Students Participate In NAMS Battle Of The
Books
This year 73 Neil Armstrong
Middle School students
participated in the Battle of the
Books.
FIRST PLACE IN THE BATTLE
AND COSTUME CONTEST
Readers of Oz
• Isaac Nirella
• Kaitlyn Hughes
• Christian Fannie
• Paige Plack
• Molly O’Toole
• Allison Scarlett
FIRST PLACE IN THE POSTER CONTEST
Nerd Herd
• Lily Browning
• Amelia Gorman
• Aliza Bower
• Sadie Fedor
• Anna Counihan
‘Entrepreneurship’ Was Theme Of The 2015
Elementary Enrichment Exposition
Thirty-seven Bethel Park
elementary gifted students
participated in the 2015
Elementary Enrichment
Exposition at Memorial
Elementary School. This year’s
theme was “Entrepreneurship,”
and the students worked to
create a business, put together
a display, create business cards
and prepare a presentation for
the Expo.
This year’s Expo included
authors, entrepreneurs,
architects, explorers, designers,
store owners and more!
Memorial Students Provide A Tour Of
Bethel Park
Memorial First and Second Graders in
Mrs. Spell’s Room researched a special
place in Bethel Park, took photos and
created a PowerPoint presentation as
part of a “Tour of Bethel Park.”
Places highlighted include Pasta Too,
Bethel Bakery, the Police Department,
the Fire Department, the Library, the
Community Center, Simmons Park, Eat
‘n Park and Giant Eagle.
Following the presentations, the
audience got to enjoy some items from
each of the locations.
Ron Reyer Named A Finalist For CIO Of The
Year
Bethel Park Director of Technology Ron Reyer was a
Finalist for the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s 2015
Chief Information Officer of the Year Award in the
Education Category and was honored at a dinner held
at Heinz Field.
The Bethel Park School
District
Where Futures Begin
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.