2015-2016 fox chapel area school district state of the schools
• Senior Konrad Urban and junior Suvir Mirchandani won first place in the 2016 Taiwan International Science Fair in the Computer Science and Information Engineering category for their project “ Automated Illustration of Text to Improve Semantic Comprehension .” The pair developed a software system that converts natural language input into illustrations in order to improve communication with individuals who have language communication disorders . Nearly 500 students from 22 countries competed at the fair . Konrad and Suvir qualified for the Taiwan International Science Fair by placing at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May 2015 .
• Dorseyville Middle School seventh grader Amulya Garimella was named a third place national winner in the 2015 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge . With a goal of preventing distractions , she invented a distraction-monitoring prototype that alerts the user of distraction by measuring EEG brainwaves . Amulya received $ 1,000 and a trip to Yale University in New Haven , Connecticut , where she had the opportunity to take classes and interact with students from all over the world .
• The Fox Chapel Area School District was named a Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified School District , one of only 24 school districts from across the nation and one of five in Pennsylvania to receive the designation . As a certified district , each individual school in the Fox Chapel Area has demonstrated a commitment to a whole-community approach in preparing students to use the immense power of digital media to explore , create , connect , and learn . It also recognizes schools that limit the perils that exist in the online realm , such as plagiarism , loss of privacy , and cyberbullying .
• Sophomore Cassidy Carson was selected to receive a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship and is spending her junior year of high school studying abroad in Germany .
• Junior Emma Paulini was selected as a national winner by scoring in the 91 st percentile on the Level IV 2016 National German Exam for High School Students and was awarded a summer study trip to Germany . She and sophomore Carl-Emil Johansen each won gold awards on the exam .
• Middle school eighth grader Rajeev Godse scored in the top one percent of the country on the American Mathematics Contest 8 exam .
• High school junior Ellen Pil advanced to the semifinal round in Student Congress at the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Championship Tournament . This accomplishment placed Ellen in the top 60 students in the nation . She was one of eight students from the high school to qualify and compete in the national competition that was held in Sacramento , California .
• High school junior Jacob Klein was named one of 50 national winners in The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America Essay Contest .
• High school seniors Ryan Humbert won first place and Conor Gaffney won second place in the 2016 national Founding Freedoms Essay Contest in the 12 th grade division . Additionally , eighth grader Jessica Klein received second place in the eighth grade division .
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