outh Fayette SOUTH FAYETTE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
High School Competition Results - Another Great Year !
Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 this year , the South Fayette STEM programs continued to run and compete in a variety of national challenges . The following students have demonstrated the tradition , pride , and excellence at the heart of South Fayette .
2021 National Cyber Scholarship Competition - Finalists
Admitted to this summer ’ s Cyber Foundations Academy Our girls ’ STEM team competed in the 2021 National Cyber Scholarship contest and finished among the top winners in the country . Yatee Balan , Lauren Damico , Zoe McCoy , Anika Namdev , Aditi Rai , and another female student who asked to remain anonymous , finished this year ’ s cybersecurity contest as national finalists . For their effort , the girls earned admittance to the Cyber Foundations Academy , a four-month intensive program , delivered from July-September , designed to further enhance attendees ’ capabilities to combat cybercrimes and threats . Attendees who complete the program will earn GIAC certification . The girls completed an increasingly difficult gauntlet of cybersecurity challenges using their knowledge of Linux , networking , programming , and more to solve the conflicts .
Pactful 2021 Jacobs Teen Innovation Challenge , 5th Place
Fighting Asian Hate Crimes Mobile App - Won $ 250 Charitable Donation for Room to Read supporting young girls ’ education and literacy in Africa and Asia
Sophomores Shreya Rathi and Sejal Verma competed in this year ’ s Jacobs Teen Innovation Challenge hosted by Pactful and the University of San Diego . The event invites teens to design social good solutions aligned with UN Global Goals and is an international competition featuring 11 countries this year . Rathi and Verma finished in fifth place among nearly 3,000 competitors with their app , Fighting Asian Hate Crimes . In response to the recent attacks on Asians across the US in 2021 , the girls developed an app that allows users to document , report , and share instances of hate toward Asians . The girls completed a rigorous design and prototyping process and were awarded a charitable donation of $ 250 to Room to Read , a non-profit that supports children ’ s literacy and girls ’ education in Africa and Asia .
PA Governor ’ s STEM Competition 2021 - Honorable Mention
Every year , Pennsylvania students are encouraged to solve some of the Commonwealth ’ s most persistent
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issues . This year ’ s group of Ratankumar Ekkurthi , Himanish Kolli , Daxen Prajapati , Tanush Shrivastava , and Vishram Urs tackled the problem of snow removal with Snonomo , an autonomous snow removal robot . The group worked diligently throughout the year to design and build a fully functioning prototype and app to operate the bot . One of the highlights was the team getting to meet and work with engineers from Aurora , an automated driving company with offices in Pittsburgh . This was the group ’ s first time competing in this challenge and they look forward to trying to improve on their honorable mention in this year ’ s contest .
TSA ( Technology Student Association ) 2021 National Conference
The TSA is a national organization that seeks to promote STEM learning while providing opportunities for student leadership and holds challenges at the local , state , and national levels . While all of this year ’ s competitions were held virtually , South Fayette was among the most-represented schools at the state and national levels . Senior Siddhartha Khajanchi continued his outstanding run as one of South Fayette ’ s most gifted public speakers with his fifth-place finish in extemporaneous speech . Freshman Preetam Jukalkar performed admirably in his first-ever IT Fundamentals contest which tests students ’ knowledge of Information Technology including hardware , software , networking , and much more . The Technology Bowl team of juniors Sahishnu Hanumolu , Griffin Hurt , and sophomore Tanush Shrivastava finished first in the nation in what is the most popular event in TSA . The team demonstrated their deep knowledge of leadership and technology systems in this event which includes a written test and head-to-head quiz bowl style competition outlasting all challengers in this dynamic event . Senior Abhinav Srinivasan was unable to attend the national competition due to a scheduling conflict but is to be commended for his role in helping the Technology Bowl team secure a spot in the national contest with their performance in the state conference . Last , but certainly not least , the team of sophomores Vinay Sriharish , Viraj and Vishram Urs , and freshmen Anish Ramagiri , created an amazingly fun and informative video game , Prizm , that teaches players about the RGB color model used to produce images on screens using a colorless character who must “ wear ” the RGB colors to advance through a number of deadly challenges while uncovering a secret government project . For their work , they earned first place in Video Game Design , an increasingly popular and hotly contested competition .
The South Fayette Girls STEM , STEAM , and TSA clubs are advised by high school English teacher , James Hausman III .