IN Cranberry Spring 2016 | Page 55

THREE SV STUDENTS WIN NCWIT AWARDS The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) recently chose three Seneca Valley Senior High School students; Urvi Gupta, Sarah Johanknecht and Kelsie McElroy, as 2016 Western & Central Pennsylvania and West Virginia Affiliate winners of the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing. These three young women, of almost 2,100 young women who are Affiliate Award recipients this season, are being recognized for their computing-related aspirations, outstanding aptitudes and interest in information technology/computing. Junior, Urvi Gupta, and seniors Sarah Johanknecht and Kelsie McElroy have been added to the list of award recipients on aspirations.org and the Western & Central Pennsylvania and West Virginia Affiliate Award winner designations have been added to their personal profile pages. To view their profile pages and read more about their awards visit: aspirations.org/users/urvi86322; aspirations.org/users/sarah-61502; aspirations.org/users/ kelsie-34855. Julia Scanlon, a senior instrumentalist at Seneca Valley, was awarded one of three $1,000 scholarships from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA). Each year, PMEA District 5 awards three scholarships to high school seniors who are choosing to pursue music education as a major in college. These scholarships are based not only on the student’s academic, musical achievement and involvement in PMEA festivals throughout their high school career, but also on their future goals in the field of music education. Scanlon is a member of the Seneca Valley Instrumental program, participates in Marching Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz I. She has repeatedly been selected for PMEA District 5 Honors Band, PMEA District 5 Jazz Festival, and PMEA District, Region and All State festivals. She plans to attend Brigham Young University next fall and major in music education. District 5 is comprised of school districts from Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties. SV TEACHER NAMED 2016 NCWIT ASPIRATIONS IN COMPUTING EDUCATOR The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) recently recognized Seneca Valley Senior High School Computer Science Teacher, Diane Krauland, with the 2016 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Educator Award. The Educator Award is conferred upon educators that have demonstrated a commitment to encouraging young women’s aspirations in computing. As a recipient of the Educator Award, Krauland will receive two engraved commemorative trophies, a $250 cash award, up to $750 of expense reimbursement for computing‑related professional development activities, and a bag of NCWIT resources and branded items. Krauland was also invited to attend the Western/Central Pennsylvania and West Virginia Affiliate event being held on Apr. 2, to receive her award, meet the student award recipients and interact with others who support young women in technology. “Young women represent a promising source of technical talent, yet are woefully underrepresented in computing,” says Marissa Hofferber, communications assistant at the National Center for Women & Information Technology. “Great teachers are one of the most important factors in inspiring young women to engage with technology in meaningful ways and pursue technical careers.” Cranberry | Spring 2016 | icmags.com 53 C I TNYE C SE OF A VAL MC KE L EEYSP SCOR HOOL T N E WS DI STRI C T N E WS Seneca Valley seniors Jacob Rickabaugh and Siona Sharma, have been named finalists in the 61st Annual National Merit Scholarship Program held by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). Rickabaugh and Sharma are two of approximately 15,000 finalists and now advance to the next level of the program where they have the opportunity to earn National Merit Scholarships and, ultimately, the Merit Scholar® title. NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence. About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2014 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. SV SENIOR AWARDED PMEA SCHOLARSHIP Seneca Va