Student news: Food donations, debate winners, kindergarten registration and more

A group of Shady Side Academy Junior and Middle School families organized a “No Hungry Kids!” fundraiser to support the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in December and raised more than $5,300.

The Delfyett, Iannetti, Khalil, Walsh and Zureikat families created a video that was shown during Zoom assemblies at both schools and also emailed to parents to educate the community about hunger and the importance of nutrition. The team of students raised $5,301 from 67 donors.

High school students win awards

Several Fox Chapel Area High School students won awards at two virtual Model United Nations (UN) conferences.

• University of Pittsburgh Model UN Conference – Best Delegate (first-place) individual winners were seniors Aidan Ireland and Cecilia Rike, and juniors Patrick Alexander and Janise Kim. Outstanding Delegate (second-place) winners were juniors Nathaniel Mueller and Omar Shalaby. The team of senior Benjamin Rickin Marks, juniors Janise Kim and Omar Shalaby, and sophomore Ethan Tan received first place by being named the Best Large Delegation. The Outstanding Small Delegation (second-place) award went to senior Cecilia Rike and junior Sydney Kennedy.

About 120 students from 13 high schools competed at the virtual event.

•Montreal UN Conference – Hosted vitually by Dawson College in Montreal, Canada, winners included senior Aidan Ireland, juniors Patrick Alexander and Siddharth Yende, and freshman Connor Mazzoni, who all received Diplomacy Awards.

The awards given are based on the qualities of diplomacy, including kindness and good character, empathy, collaboration, charismatic leadership and positivity.

More than 510 students from schools in the United States, Canada and 38 other nations competed.

The purpose of the Model UN conferences are to enable students to role-play and simulate the countries in the United Nations. As a part of the conferences, students debate and try to solve global problems from the perspectives of other countries.

Forensic tournament success

Several Fox Chapel Area High School students and one Dorseyville Middle School student placed in virtual forensic tournaments held in December.

• Big Grizzly Invitational Forensic Tournament – The Policy Debate team of senior Jackson Romero and junior Ian Mackey-Piccolo were awarded the status of tournament co-champions. The team was undefeated with a perfect 6-0 record.

The virtual competition was held Dec. 4 and 5 by Wadsworth High School in Ohio. More than 690 students from 43 high schools in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia participated.

• North Catholic High School Forensic Tournament – Freshman Lilly Friedman won second place in Informative Speaking at the virtual event Dec. 12. A total of 268 students representing 27 high schools from four states competed.

• Upper St. Clair High School Sparkle Season Charity Tournament – The Policy Debate team of senior Jackson Romero and junior Ian Mackey-Piccolo were undefeated and won first place. In Parliamentary Debate, the team of senior Anthony Nguyen and sophomore Silas Owens also won first place. Freshman Lilly Friedman tied for second place in Impromptu Speaking, and sixth place went to freshman Isabella White in Lincoln Douglas Debate.

Dorseyville Middle School eighth-grader Moonyoung Hwang was awarded sixth place in Impromptu Speaking.

The event was held virtually Dec. 19 with more than 150 students from 19 schools from Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Kindergarten registration slated

Registration for children who will enter kindergarten in the fall of 2021 is scheduled at Fox Chapel Area School District for March.

The district also offers various pre-registration events such as parent/guardian orientations and 2021-2022 kindergarten story times that will begin in early February.

All registration forms will be filled out online.

Starting on Feb. 3, parents/guardians can go to register.fcasd.edu to begin the process.

To sign up and to learn more about programs for incoming kindergartners, visit kdgfcasd.com.