Diversity

Fall Athletics
Submitted by:  Mr. Bob Bozzuto 

In October, we recognized the North Allegheny School District Athletic Department for winning the title of having the best overall athletic program in the Western Pennsylvania Quad A classification in the Management Science Associates Sports Cup challenge.  Points are earned for the success of each team sport in the fall, winter and spring seasons that have at least 25% participation of WPIAL schools included.  The 2007-2008 school year marked the fifth consecutive year that North Allegheny won the Cup.  The following NA teams are paving the way for the District to win the cup again this year.   

PIAA Girls’ Tennis

The Lady Tigers Tennis team, coached by Ms. Michelle Weniger, had an outstanding season.  The girls’ team finished the season as runner-up in the WPIAL team championship and first place in the doubles championship.  The team also won the State Championship in October.  In addition to the team title, sophomore Kelly Whelan and senior Jen Larimore claimed the Tennis Doubles Championship title.

Tennis Team State Champions
First Place

Tennis Team Doubles State Champions
First Place
Jennifer Larimore
Kelly Whelan
 

 
PIAA Girls’ Volleyball

The Girls Volleyball team, coached by Mr. Dan Schall, were section co-champions and the WPIAL champions at the end of their season.  The team went on to compete in the State championships, where they won 2^nd place.  Team members are: 

Volleyball Championships
Second Place

Stephanie Avalli Kaitlin Bradshaw Kendra Calhoun Laura Conti Kelsey Davies Gretta Freyermuth Katherine Freyermuth

Leeanne Haus Maura Jeffries Amanda Knobeloch Caroline Koenig Jacqueline Lang Natalie Masters Logan Meinert

Julia Miller Katherine Munson Elizabeth Overbaugh Victoria Pernell Kayleigh Tony Alexandra Wappler

PIAA Cross Country

The Boys’ Varsity Cross Country team is coached by Mr. Jim LeDonne.  They won their section title and the WPIAL Championships before competing in the state championships where they claimed 3^rd place.  The Cross Country team members are:

Cross Country Championships
Third Place  

2007-2008 Math Olympiad Contest
Submitted by:  Ms. Shari Schlosser, Ms. Carla Kuhn,
                          Ms. Ellyn Snyder and Ms. Sharon Kroll 

The Math Olympiad is a worldwide mathematical problem-solving contest.  Fifth grade Advanced Academic Math classes took part in the 2007-08 contest.  Students participated in five different contests during the school year.  The final scores are based on all five contests.  All three teams of students from North Allegheny School District received a Plaque of Highest Achievement for placing in the top 10% of all teams worldwide.  There were about 4,600 national teams comprised of about 100,000 students from across the nation that participated.  In addition, about 1,800 teams, comprised of 45,000 students from 32 other countries were also enrolled in the contest.  These NA students earned the Plaque of Highest Achievement for NA: 

Plaque of Highest Achievement

Technology Student Association
Submitted by:  Mr. Shawn Lydon 

The Technology Student Association is an organization that was started by industrial arts teachers who wanted to provide opportunities for their students to be recognized for their accomplishments.  Members compare their technology competencies with other students through local, regional, state and national competitions.  The mission of this organization is to foster personal growth, leadership and opportunities in technology, innovation, design and engineering.  Members apply and integrate science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts through co-curricular activities, competitive events and related programs.  At the end of last school year, Douglas Bauer, who was a junior at the time, competed in the 2008 National Conference and won First Place in CAD Animation Architectural.  This year, senior Danny Zemel was elected state Reporter.     

2008 National Conference
First Place in CAD Animation Architectural
Douglas Bauer 

Pennsylvania Chapter
2008-09 Reporter
Danny Zemel

Euro Challenge National Competition
Submitted by:  Ms. Joann Urbaniak

The Euro Challenge is an exciting educational opportunity for students to learn about the United States’ biggest trading partner.  The program is in its third year and was created to promote economic and financial literacy.  The competition is organized and funded by The Moody’s Foundation, Credit Suisse Bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Deloitte. 

Teams from Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania competed for one spot in the national competition.  A team of five students from North Allegheny Intermediate High School won that spot and were awarded a trip to New York City for the national Euro Challenge Competition, where they represented all three states.  The NAI team was one of only 16 teams to advance to the national competition and have the opportunity to present their project at the New York Federal Reserve Bank at the end of last school year. 

Regional Representative
Sujaya Balachandran
Thomas Helgerman
Adrianna Jensen
Joshua Kaib
Aidan MacDonagh
 

National Forensics Competitions & Recognition
Submitted by:  Ms. Sharon Volpe 

National Forensic League

The North Allegheny Senior High School has been recognized – for the second year in a row – as being one of the nation’s “Top 100 Schools” in speech and debate activities by the National Forensic League.  NASH ranked 68 out of 2,700 schools nationwide.  This recognition was awarded to NASH and published nationwide in the Rostrum, the national magazine of high school speech and on the website of the National Forensic League.   North Allegheny's Forensics Coach, Ms. Sharon Volpe, was invited to accept this award in appreciation of her hard work and dedication to the forensics program at NASH. 

NASH named one of the top 100 high school forensics programs in the nation
Ms. Sharon Volpe 

Recently senior Stacey Chen won honors for the forensics team at two extremely prestigious tournaments: 

Yale Invitational

Every year, the Yale Debate Association welcomes over a thousand competitors from all across the country for a weekend of premier forensics competition. The tournament is directed by a core of experienced coaches who are intimately familiar with tabulation, tournament direction, and the ins and outs of high school forensics.  The tournament is hosted by an undergraduate debating society at Yale University.  In September, Stacey competed in the Yale Invitational and finished Second Place in the country in the Extemporaneous Speaking event. 

Second Place Extemporaneous Speaking
Stacey Chen

Glenbrooks National High School Speech and Debate Tournament

The Glenbrooks National High School Speech and Debate Tournament is the largest national-level high school speech and debate tournament in the U.S. hosted by a high school.  More than 1,500 contestants representing over 220 schools from at least 35 states are attracted to this tournament annually.  In November, Stacey competed at the 29^th annual Glenbrooks tournament – this time winning First Place in Extemporaneous Speaking. 

First Place Extemporaneous Speaking
Stacey Chen

Students Published

High School Writer Senior High Edition
Submitted by:  Ms. Patricia Kramer 

Writer Publications produces three national newspapers; the Elementary School Writer, the Junior High School Writer, and the Senior High School Writer.  Since 1984, these newspapers have been providing a real audience for student writers.  The High School Writer is published six times during the school year.  Each year they receive more than 30,000 compositions, stories and poems from students in all parts of the nation.  The editorial staff sorts through those manuscripts and about 10% of the submissions make their way into print.  NA Junior Elizabeth Skrovanek had her story published in the 2^nd issue of High School Writer in the 2008-2009 school year. 

Published
Elizabeth Skrovanek

Teen Ink Magazine
Submitted by:  Mr. Antonio Caruso 

Teen Ink is a national magazine that is devoted entirely to teenage writing and art.  The magazine is distributed in classrooms around the country by English teachers, creative writing teachers, journalism teachers and art teachers.  The magazine offers thoughtful and creative work generated by teens and has the largest distribution of any publication of its kind.  The publication has no staff writers or artists; it depends completely on submissions from teenagers nationwide for content.  The magazine has received hundreds of thousands of submissions from students and has published approximately 25,000 of them since 1989.  Senior, Edye Pucciarelli, had her work titled “Everything Beneath” published in the December 2008 issue. 

Published
Edye Pucciarelli

Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association All-State Conference 

The North Allegheny Senior High School Honors Wind Ensemble has been invited to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Association All-State Conference that will be held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, this April.  The Ensemble will perform for an audience of music educators and administrators from all over the state of Pennsylvania. 

Receiving this invitation is a tremendous honor that only the finest bands receive.  More than 130 groups competed for this invitation to perform by submitting recordings that demonstrated various musical genres performed at an extremely high level.  A distinguished group of music educators and professional performers listen to each of the submitted recordings.  The selection standards are so high that, if after listening to all of the recordings, the panel does not feel there are any bands worthy of this honor, no band is selected. 

The North Allegheny Senior High School Honors Wind Ensemble was also recognized last year as the “Best High School Classical Group” in the 31^st Annual Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards.  Wind Ensembles Director, Mr. Todd Stefan, was invited to accept this award on behalf of the ensemble. 

NASH Honors Wind Ensemble to Perform at Conference
Mr. Todd Stefan

Department of the Air Force Air University 

The North Allegheny Senior High School has earned a National Distinguished Unit Award for the academic year 2007-2008.  The Distinguished Unit Award recognizes Air Force Junior ROTC units that have performed above and beyond normal expectations and have distinguished themselves through outstanding service to their school and community while meeting the Air Force Junior ROTC mission of producing better citizens for America.  This award is limited to the best of the best of our nation’s 879 Air Force Junior ROTC units.  Maj. Frederick Schott and MSgt Richard Denault were invited to accept this award on behalf of the NA JROTC. 

2007-2008 Distinguished Unit Award
Maj. Frederick Schott
MSgt. Richard Denault

In addition, the Board of School Directors celebrated that eleven District schools received Keystone Achievement Awards from Governor Rendell to commemorate the accomplishment of two consecutive years of AYP due to PSSA results.  Dr. Green offered some congratulatory remarks and then presented the Keystone Awards to principals and representatives from each of the eleven schools.  The Keystone Awards will be hung in each building.

NA INTERMEDIATE HIGH

CARSON MIDDLE

INGOMAR MIDDLE

MARSHALL MIDDLE

BRADFORD WOODS ELEM.

FRANKLIN ELEMENTARY

HOSACK ELEMENTARY

INGOMAR ELEMENTARY

MARSHALL ELEMENTARY

MCKNIGHT ELEMENTARY

Peebles elementary