WHAT’ S NEWS IN FOX CHAPEL AREA
ASWP RECEIVES NATIONAL AUDUBON BURKE GRANT
Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania( ASWP) recently received a National Audubon Society Coleman and Susan Burke Center for Native Plants grant. The grant will be used to raise awareness of the importance of native plants and to support ASWP’ s more than 30-year history of working with native plants. ASWP will hold workshops and municipal presentations, and has launched a new Certified Backyard Habitat program. The program creates customized plans for homeowners to follow that will turn backyards into an oasis for wildlife.
ASWP has its own native plant nursery, which is open for the season and located at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, 614 Dorseyville Road in Fox Chapel. This year, to make the use of native plants more convenient for gardeners, the nursery will feature bundled plants that attract monarch butterflies and hummingbirds.
Learn more about native plants and the Certified Backyard Habitat program at www. aswp. org.
AAUW RECOGNIZES FUTURE LEADERS IN STEM FIELDS
Seventy young women from Dorseyville Middle School were honored on March 19 at the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church for their academic accomplishments in STEM fields( science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at the 7th biennial Young Women’ s Recognition Night hosted by the Fox Chapel Area Affiliate of the American Association of University Women( AAUW).
Each of the girls was nominated for the award by one or more of her teachers. Class participation, proficiency, special projects, problem-solving ability, and related extracurricular activities were some of the criteria on which educators based their decisions. The event is sponsored by the AAUW to encourage girls who demonstrate enthusiasm and aptitude in STEM to pursue their interests in these disciplines through high school and beyond.
A highlight of the evening was an opportunity for the girls to meet directly with mentors in diverse STEM positions. The professional women discussed the challenges and rewards of their jobs and answered questions related to their careers. Panelists this year included Katie Flynn, Engineer and Energy Manager for Giant Eagle; Stephanie Kaiser, Oncology Nurse Practitioner at UPMC; Anastasia Markiw, Project Architect for DesignGroup; and Shefali Umrania, graduate student in Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University.
Receiving certificates of achievement( pictured) were Hailey Anderson, Annalese Bartolacci, Ainsley Baucom, Justine Bennett, Kathryn Billings, Maya Bradley, Nina Busch, Lidia Cavicchioli, Davina Chang, Ava Clump, Eliza Davis, Shea Davison, Sophia Demetri, Mia Dunleavy, Jayne Dye, Camryn Eisner, Justine Sho Yi Eng, Hanna Essey, Cara Felman, Katie Fisher, Sophia Gass, Jordan Geidel, Mona Gerges, Elia Gillespie, Kate Hallman, Francesca Heidinger, Caroline Hinz, Danielle Horne, Nabeela Islam, Nora Johnson, Clara Kelley, Janise Kim, Kathleen Krebs, Shriya Krishnamurthy, Zoe Shira Lakkis, Jenna Lazaro, Kaitlyn Legge, Britta Lindgren, Isabella Marcos, Megan Mulhern, Rachel Perischetti, Lakshanya Rajaganapathi, Sophia River, Claudia Joy Smith, Aly Solomon, Rei Sperry, Emma Szymanski, Laci Toomey, Emily Torbert, Christina Tran, Sydney Ward, Gloria Wen and Annie Yonas.
Also honored were Natalie Fabian, Zoe Fitzsimmons, Katherine Haas, Jessica Jimenez, Griffin Kerstetter, Stephanie Lee, Grace Leventry, Nathania Lingam, Rebecca Lokshanov, Haylie McKinley, Molly McNaughton, Jessica Miller, Allyson Ngu, Marie Romero, Sophia Roth, Sophie Shao and Emily Staud.
As the girls participated in the career discussions, parents and families, school representatives, and members of the AAUW gathered to hear remarks by distinguished keynote speaker Megan Cicconi, Executive Director of Instructional and Innovative Leadership for the Fox Chapel Area School District, who addressed gender disparity in STEM professions. It was her task to outline the extraordinary contributions possible if these young women continued to pursue their studies in STEM, and to solicit their help in making that happen. All attendees reunited afterward for a dessert reception and a chance to congratulate the awardees.
The mission of the AAUW is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research on national, state, and local levels. Chartered in Boston in 1882, the AAUW is the third oldest women’ s organization in continuous existence in the United States. The Fox Chapel Area affiliate is one of 40 such AAUW branches in Pennsylvania and will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year. Meetings are monthly at the Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church; programs are open to the public and free of charge. ■
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