3680 Old Oakdale Road
McDonald, PA 15057-2580
(412) 221-4542, Ext. 407
Fax: (724) 693-2883
South Fayette Township School District

Did You Know?

South Fayette School District is counted among the premier districts in Pennsylvania. Our students and staff have proven their dedication to excellence in academics and extra-curricular activities.

We are very proud of these achievements. Listed below is a brief summary of recent awards and kudos earned by our staff and students.

State and National Recognition
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* In the fall of 2007, South Fayette received the Classrooms for the Future grant that will provide laptop computers and other technology itesm for the classrooms of our core subject areas.
* South Fayette Middle School received the 2006 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education. South Fayette was one of 6 public schools in the state to earn this award.
* Standard & Poors ranks South Fayette 3rd among all schools in Pennsylvania for proficiency on the PSSA in Math and Reading (2005-2006).
* South Fayette’s current 7th grade students ranked 1st in Pennsylvania and Allegheny County in Math for the second consecutive year.

Staff Achievements
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* High School teacher Julia Martin has been named the Pennsylvania Secondary Level Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the Pennsylvania Council for the Social Studies. (Sept. 2007)
* High School Social Studies teacher Mary Chambon was selected as a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by The National Society of High School Scholars. This is the second time she has been selected for this honor (Sept. 2007)
* SFHS biology teacher Mrs. Melissa Meyer was been selected to take part in the Science Ambassador Program in the summer of 2007, sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.  She is one of only sixteen teachers across the United States to be selected for this honor.
* SFHS English teacher James Hausman has been selected as a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). He was nominated by a student for his outstanding dedication and commitment to excellence in teaching.
* SFHS biology teacher Jeff McGowan has been selected as the recipient of the “Outstanding Science Teacher Award” by Sigma Xi of Carnegie Mellon University. McGowan will be honored at a banquet on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at the University Center at Carnegie Mellon University.
* 27 SF teachers have been nominated for Teacher Excellence Awards by parents and students:Margaret Bohn, James Bohn, Tracy Brandtner, Linda Brentin, Mark Kuglar Jr., Denise Lazzini, Anne Liberatore, Pauline Phillips, Angela Simms, Shari Vennero, Sue Andrew, Kristin Deichler, Gretchen Haid, Michael Houck, Darcy Kotts, Frank Kruth, Karen Maurer, Donna Michalowsky, Scott Philipp, Melissa Shober, Stephanie Gutshall, James Hausman, Kevin Maurer, Patrick McAndrew, Judy Morally, Sharon Perry, John Petersavage
* Middle School Technology Education teacher Frank Kruth earned the Outstanding Recent Graduate award for Technology Education from California University of Pennsylvania in October 2006..
* Holly Will, Grade 7 Social Studies teacher, just received her Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Duquesne University.
* High School chemistry teacher Melissa Rubottom Meyer’s lessons were highlighted in Discovery Science Magazine for her outstanding use of United Streaming Video in her curriculum.
* Peggy Clayton, Denise Lazzini, Janet Farkas were nominees for the Teacher Excellence Award (2005-2006).
* Scott Sundgren received the Carnegie Award for Excellence in Elementary Education. He also received the Pennsylvania Hand-On Learning Grant and was a Disney Teacher of the Year Award Nominee (2005-2006).
* Robin Sciotto , Scott Sundgren , Mark Kuglar, Tiffany Secreti  were listed in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (2005-2006).
* In 2006, South Fayette Elementary received the Charles Gray Award for excellence in the arts. This same award was given to South Fayette Middle School in 2005.

Student Achievements
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* Senior Allison Supko has earned the Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship for 2008. Supko is ranked first in her graduating class at South Fayette and is captain of the Cheerleading squad, president of the Drama Club and Chorus, and is treasurer of the senior class. Allison will attend the Univ. of Pittsburgh’s Honors College to receive her Doctorate Degree in Pharmacy.
* Senior Zack Patterson signed a letter of intent to play for Lafayette College in the Patriot Fotball League (Division 1-AA).
* Senior Jon Taglianetti will be a preferred walk-on to play football for the University of Pittsburgh.
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Senior Drew Hareza (kicker/punter) signed a letter of intent to attend Old Dominion University to play football in the Colonial Athletic Association. Drew has also earned the honor of playing in the Pennsylvania East-West All-Star Game on June 21, 2008.
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Senior Emily Cord has been named to the Dean’s List of the Community College of Allegheny County. Through the Dual Enrollment program, she took 4 courses for 12 credits last semester at CCAC while also taking courses at the high school. When she graduates high school in 2008, she will have earned 33 credits towards college graduation.
* Sophomore James Broderick, of Boy Scout Troop 148 in Crafton, recently completed his Eagle Scout Service Project.  James’ service project focused on building a “bluebird trail” of 24 birdhouses along the three miles of the Montour Trail that run between Cecil Henderson Road and McConnell Road. (Sept. 2007)
* Eleventh grader Gary Fleisner was one of 14 students in the area who were selected to participate in the ASPIRE Program sponsored by Equitable Resources. (Sept. 2007)  
* Kaiting Chen, Class of 2007, was named as one of 2,500 distinguished high school seniors from across the United States to receive the $2,500 National Merit Scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). These Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of approximately 15,000 Finalists in the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Program.
* Junior Lauren Holmes was selected to receive the Pennsylvania Award for Creative Achievement in the Arts. Of all the nominations received from across the state, only twenty-two students were selected to receive this honor.
* South Fayette senior Megan Rooney will respresent the District in the PIAA Swimming Championships. She will compete in the 200 and 500 Freestyle events. The PIAA Swimming Championships will take place at Bucknell University March 14-16, 2007.
* Senior Sean McElhinny scored reached the 1000 point milestone on Friday, Feb. 9 when the varsity basketball team took on Fort Cherry. He scored 30 points in the game and has 1,001 points in the regular season.
* The 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball Team has won the 2007 Southwest Conference Championship and completed their second undefeated season. Their overall record in two years 43 wins and 0 losses.
* The Varsity Boys' swim team has earned the title of Section I - Class AA Champion for the 2006-2007 season.
* Senior Sean McElhinny has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football for the Colonials of Robert Morris University, Division I-AA. . Starting at wide receiver his junior and senior year, he had 43 receptions for 586 yards and 5 TDs.
* The following South Fayette Boys and Girls Varsity Soccer players were named to the PG West All-Stars: senior Garrett Fink, sophomore Sarah Wisniewski, and senior Alyssa McCullough.
  Junior Lauren Holmes and senior Adam Levine have been selected to represent South Fayette in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Honors Choir. Senior Danielle Winterhalter was also selected as an alternate for the event.
* Senior Kaiting Chen has been named a National Merit Semi-finalist by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The list of semi-finalists represents less than one percent of the top U.S. high school seniors. Of the more than 1.4 million students who took the test, only 16,000 semi-finalists are chosen.
* The South Fayette Little Green Machine Marching Band recently won the Allegheny County Labor Council Award, one of only 3 awards given to bands that participated in the Labor Day Parade in Pittsburgh.
* Steven Cantine, Rylan Collins, Adrienne Vollmer, and Jean Zhang have earned the distinction of “Commended Student” by the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Program. They placed in the top 5% of students taking the PSAT/NMSQT and were among the 34,000 student recognized throughout the nation for their exceptional academic promise.
* Elementary student Eishan Ashwat took 6th place in a Pittsburgh Youth Chess Tournament (2005-2006).
* Elementary student, August Rothenberger won 1st place for his illustrated haiku poem in the contest sponsored by the Pittsburgh section of the American Chemical Society (2005-2006).
* In the Elementary Calcu-Solve competition, South Fayette's team finished first. Team members were: Lauren Deutsch, Cara Lyons, Rachel McKinney, and Eva Roy. Rachel McKinney also earned the first place award in the individual competition with a perfect score (2005-2006).

Alumni Achievements
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* Seth Evans, Class of 2007, was accepted into the Emory and Henry College Show Choir, that only accepts 12 students each year. Seth will be touring this first year in Vienna and Munich.
* Katie Yalch, Class of 2006, has been accepted into “The Singing Lions” Penn State’s Premier Show Choir. There are 20 students in the group (10 women and 10 men).The Choir performs on the East Coast for various functions throughout the year.
* Caitlin McManus, Class of 2005, was the individual champion in the 100 yard Breaststroke at the Presidents Athletic Conference Swimming Championships with a time of 1:09.44. Caitlin swims for Westminster and the team also won the conference team title in 2007.
* Andrew DiDonato, Class of 2006, is the starting quarterback for the Grove City Wolverines. In his first three games, he completed 40 of 75 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns.
* Alyssa Massetti, Class of 2001, is an Anchor/Producer for WDTV in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
* Philip Conroy, Class of 2006, is a member of the West Virginia University Mountaineer Football Team.
* Mark Chachula, Class of 1996, has received his Professional Engineer’s License. To earn this distinction, Mark passed the Principles and Practices of Engineering exam after completion of four years work experience in the engineering profession. 
* Lauren Hareza, Class of 2006, tested at College Level V in German for placement at Ohio State University.

For Your Information
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* To light the South Fayette stadium track for commuity use in the evenings costs the District $1 per hour.
* The average citizen percieves that 20% of the federal budget is currently spent on K-12 education. In reality, only 1.5% of the budget reaches our schools.
* U.S. Congress authorized $42 billion to fund No Child Left Behind and special education, but the current budget only provides $23 billion of the promised funding.
* On September 8, 2006, South Fayette hosted over 200 senior citizens for a free spaghetti dinner prior to the home football game.
* All South Fayette School busses passed their state inspections without any additional work needed.

 

To submit your items to "Did you know?" please send e-mail to belcher@southfayette.org

 

SF Elementary Art Students recieve
awards in Historical Society Art Contest