N OR TH HI L LS SC HO OL DI STRI C T NE WS
or th Hills School District
North Hills High
School Musician
Selected for
All‑State
Orchestra
N
orth Hills High School junior bass player Eric Meister
was chosen to participate in the Pennsylvania Music
Educators Association (PMEA) All-State Orchestra.
Eric advanced to the state festival after successful auditions
at the PMEA Regional Orchestra Festival at Trinity High School
in late February. Students were judged on rhythm, musicianship
and pitch accuracy among other factors.
He will attend the PMEA All-State Conference in Hershey in
late March where he joined with more than 120 other talented
musicians to form the state’s best high school orchestra.
42 Ross Township
North Hills
Students
Compete
at National
Robotics
Championship
N
orth Hills High School senior Curtis Sobien
and sophomore Luke Melcher teamed up with
fellow robotics enthusiasts to win the FIRST
Robotics Competition’s Greater Pittsburgh Regional
Competition and advance to the FIRST National
Championship in St. Louis.
During the regional competition at California
University of Pennsylvania on March 27 to 29, the
team topped 45 other teams from Pennsylvania,
Indiana, New York, Maryland, Ohio and Ontario,
Canada.
As part of Team SHARP – short for
Sarah Heinz Advanced Robotics Program, the pair
along with their teammates will compete against 200
other regional winners from across the United States
and Canada at the national championship this month.
Team SHARP is affiliated with the non-profit, afterschool program provider Sarah Heinz House located
on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
For the competition, the team built, designed
and programmed a 120-pound robot by utilizing
sophisticated hardware and software, and during the
events, the robots competed in challenging events
that combine science and technology, strategic
thinking and cooperation skills.
This summer, Sobien has been selected for
an internship at the Carnegie Mellon University
National Robotics Engineering Center, and he will
attend the University of Pittsburgh this fall majoring
in mechanical engineering. Melcher attends A.W.
Beattie Career Center where he is enrolled in the Agile
Robotics/Intelligent Systems program.
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an
annual competition for high school students that
helps young people discover the rewards and
excitement of education and careers in science,
engineering, and technology.