Student news: A roundup of accolades
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• Pine-Richland sixth grader Noah Arnold will compete in the Pennsylvania Alpine Racing Association U14 State Championship from Feb. 22-23 at Seven Springs Ski Resort. Noah qualified for both the giant slalom and slalom races.
• Student musicians from the Pine-Richland, Avonworth, Fox Chapel, Hampton, North Allegheny, North Hills, Northgate, Riverview and Shaler Area school districts participated in the 71st annual Allegheny Valley Honors Band festival on Jan. 17. The event was hosted at Pine-Richland High School by music teachers Will Guess and Jim Stillwagon. The students auditioned for the honor to work with guest conductors Dr. Gregory Drane, director of Penn State’s Blue Band, who worked with the junior high band, and Mr. Robert Sheldon, renowned composer, who worked with the high school band. Twenty-eight Pine-Richland Middle School and Pine-Richland High School students were selected to participate.
• Pine-Richland senior Ryan Kim, juniors Ashlyn Casale, Ryan Noir and Morgan Radi, and sophomores Eleanor DeMann and Alex Goss were selected to participate in the 2025 PMEA District 1 Senior High Orchestra from Jan. 9-11 at Bethel Park High School. Noir and Radi will advance to the PMEA Western Region Orchestra in March.
• Pine-Richland juniors Ashlyn Casale and Ryan Noir have been chosen to participate in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Student Side-by-Side program. Casale was selected as principal flute, and Noir was selected as principal clarinet. The Side-by-Side program affords high school musicians the experience of rehearsing and performing alongside their Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra counterparts. Students receive personal coaching from PSO musicians, participate in full orchestra rehearsals and collaborate with other student musicians. The program culminates in a joint performance April 2 at Heinz Hall.
• Pine-Richland High School students named Student of the Month at A.W. Beattie for December/January include: senior Jessica Bui for culinary arts; juniors Reid Carter for early childhood education, James Lane for automotive collision technology, Elissa Lucchino for health and nursing sciences, Joey Mascarenas for carpentry/building construction and Jessica Trievel for cosmetology; and sophomore Tatiana Stedina for culinary arts.
• Pine-Richland seniors Lilliana Bogle (bassoon), Thomas DeVito (trumpet) and William Tamburri (horn); juniors Ashlyn Casale (flute), Jiwon Lee (clarinet) and Ryan Noir (clarinet); and sophomore Alex Goss (trumpet) successfully auditioned to participate in the PMEA District 1 West Band Festival. The festival was held Jan. 25 at Hampton High School under the direction of guest conductor Dr. Cheldon Williams, the associate director of bands and director of athletic bands at West Virginia University. Bogle, DeVito, Tamburri, Casale and Noir advanced to the PMEA Region 1 Band Festival, which will be March 8 at Ambridge Area High School.
• Pine-Richland senior Alexis Verba, under the direction of teacher Courtney Kronk-Love, earned second place in the statewide Brighter Financial Futures Fall Budgeting Challenge. In this competition, students build their net worth by transferring money from their checking account to savings and build up their credit score by responsibly covering cash flow shortfalls and paying off their balance on time, all while dealing with life events and unplanned expenses.
• Twelve Pine-Richland High School students captured first place in the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral Classic Mock Trial Tournament.
Competing against 52 teams from across the Commonwealth, three Pine-Richland teams demonstrated exceptional poise, preparation and persuasive arguments, with Team A securing the top spot in this annual event sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Mock Trial Team and held at the Cathedral of Learning.
First place Team A includes lawyers: junior Sanika Das, junior Brooke Deegan, senior Ian Hurt, senior Nedda Immen, senior Eliza Lazzaro and junior Deeya Nayyar; and witnesses, all seniors: JoJo Barbiaux, Anna Karmanos, June McCune, Ava Muster, William Tamburri and Jillian Uzelac.
The 12 students of Team A will represent Pine-Richland at the annual Pennsylvania Bar Association Mock Trial Tournament in February. Nearly 300 student teams will compete in the annual event with the winning team representing Pennsylvania in the national tournament.
Senior John Folino (Team B) was named Exceptional Witness in the competition, and freshman Piya Dargan (Team C) was named Exceptional Lawyer.
• Eleven Pine-Richland High School students performed Feb. 6-7 with the PMEA District 1 Choir at Mt. Lebanon High School. They are seniors Claire Dosch and Mackenzie Mercuri; juniors Brooke Deegan, Josh Oklejewski, Sophia Priore and Katelyn Rickard; and sophomores Karcher Dosch, Raegan Dosch, Loren Prisuta, Allie Rishel and Avi Sasso. Deegan, Claire Dosch, Karcher Dosch, Raegan Dosch, Mercuri, Oklejewski, Priore, Prisuta, Rickard and Sasso qualified for the PMEA Region 1 Choir that will be held March 19-21 at Waynesburg University. According to choir teacher Lee Rickard, this is the second-highest number of students in Pine-Richland history to qualify for region choir.
• Five Pine-Richland High School students were named Students of the Month at A.W. Beattie for November/December. They are senior Ava Scatena, cosmetology; junior Taylor Kane, cosmetology; juniors Quinten Summers and Jackson Zang, both automotive collision technology; and sophomore Ava Brough, veterinary sciences.
• Jack Brooks was named to the dean’s list at Bucknell University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Marie France Boivin, Ella Brenneman and Samantha Towson were named to the president’s list at Southern New Hampshire University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Alexander Vasile earned a spot on the provost’s list at Hofstra University for achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall 2024 semester.
• Nicholas Tarquinio was named to the dean’s list at Stonehill College for the fall 2024 semester.
• Grace Merlack was named to the dean’s list at Hofstra University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Sofia Morse was named to the chancellor’s honor roll at University of Mississippi for the fall 2024 semester.
• Lauren MacDonald was named to the dean’s list at the University of Rhode Island for the fall 2024 semester.
• Alek Johnson and Carly Kern were named to the dean’s list at Baldwin Wallace University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Nicholas Murray and Ryan Newman were named to the dean’s list at the University of Maryland Global Campus for the fall 2024 semester.
• Aiden Miller and Jillian Bish were named to the dean’s list at James Madison University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Emerson Brinker and Ella Hengelsberg were named to the president’s list at James Madison University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Anthony Nicassio was named to the dean’s list at Commonwealth University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Carys Mundy was named to the dean’s list at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences for the fall 2024 semester.
• Mikayla Saversky, Kayla Willochell, Emma Zawalnicki and Jack Zawalnicki were named to the dean’s list at Saint Francis University for the fall 2024 semester.
• Kush Bandi earned the distinction of faculty honors at the Georgia Institute of Technology for achieving a 4.0 during the fall 2024 semester.
• Anna Bokulich and Isabella Anderson were named to the dean’s list at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford for the fall 2024 semester.
• Julian Brooks was named to the dean’s list at Champlain College for the fall 2024 semester.