National Merit Scholars Earn
Additional Recognition
Three students are earning additional recognition in the
National Merit Scholar program. Seniors Richard Kwon, Joshua
Pantanowitz and Kendall Pomerleau were named finalists in the
program. Earlier this year they were designated semifinalists. They
will now have the chance to compete for scholarships. In addition,
program administrators named 12 seniors as commended. They
include seniors Juliano Avolio, Arushi Bandi, Bailey Core, Matthew
Di, Andrew Gaffey, Adam Heeter, Amanda Labuda, John Michel,
Alec Muchnok, Joseph Mullen, Julia Solomon and Kaitlyn Will.
High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking
the Preliminary AT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Richard Kwon
Young Chefs Offer Healthy
Culinary Creations
While healthy eating can
be a challenge for kids and
parents, elementary school
students in Pine-Richland
School District used their
creativity and culinary skills
to make healthy comfort food
recipes in nutrition partner
and Quality of Life Services
provider Sodexo’s 2017 Future
Chefs Challenge. Fourth
grader Eliza Rose Lazzaro
(shown to the right) took top
honors with her Flatbread
Mac and Cheese recipe at the
annual contest.
Joshua Pantanowitz
Kendall Pomerleau
Students Earn National
Art & Writing Awards
Several Pine-Richland High School students earned awards in
the 2017 Western Pennsylvania Regional Scholastic Art & Writing
Competition. They competed against students from more than
43 schools. In all, more than 30 Pine-Richland students earned
nearly 100 awards in the regional program. This year, senior Kayla
Duffy earned a National Key Gold Key Award for her digital art
entry called “Anonymous” and a National Silver Key award for
her photograph entitled “Remodeling.” In addition, junior Nikki
Novick earned a National Silver Key Award for her photograph
entitled “Reflect.” Junior Jack Martin earned a National Silver Key
Award for his entry “Eureka Moment.” Duffy, Novick and Martin
worked on their projects under the direction of Teacher Ramon
Riley. In addition to Riley, Martin also works with Cherry Court
Studios with instructor Marianne Masucci. Junior Chelsea Carver
earned a National Gold Award in the journalism category for her
article on the effects of sugar on the body.
PRMS Odyssey of Mind Team Qualifies for State Competition
Three Pine-Richland Middle School teams competed at the Western Regional
Odyssey of the Mind Competition on March 4. Each team solved a long-term
problem over the last four to five months. During that time, the students used
creativity and teamwork to develop a presentation for the competition. In
addition, the teams had to solve a spontaneous problem that day. They were
scored based on their long-term problem solution, “style” of the presentation
and solution to the spontaneous problem to solve.
One PRMS team placed first in their division (Division 2 - middle school)
and advanced to the Odyssey of the Mind State Finals at Moon Area School
District on April 1. The team had to design, build and operate an original robot
that demonstrated human characteristics when performing tasks such as
household chores, creating art and dancing. Participating students included
seventh graders Miles Brown, Riley Doyle, Genevieve Gaichas, Joshua Katruska,
Colby Ohlund, Colin Ohlund and Amish Sethi. Mrs. Laura Ohlund served as a
parent coach. Pine-Richland Middle School GATE Teacher Kathy Deal oversaw
participation. The team earned sixth place at the state competition.
44 Pine-Richland
(Front: L-R) Seventh graders Riley Doyle and
Josh Katruska and (Back: L-R) Amish Sethi,
Miles Brown, Eve Gaichas, Colby Ohund
and Colin Ohlund place first at the Western
Regional Odyssey of the Mind Competition.