New Board Chair, Vice Chair Appointed – Sewickley Academy’s Board of Trustees transitioned leadership roles during the summer of 2017. As Amy (Simmons ’80) Sebastian’s term ended, Kate (Poppenberg ’82) Pigman was elected Chair of the Board, and Brad Busatto ’88 was elected Vice Chair. Kate and Brad both have strong ties to the Sewickley Academy community as alumni and parents.
Hansen Cup Raises Over $47,000 – The 12th Annual Hansen Cup Memorial Golf Outing took place on Monday, September 11, 2017, at Allegheny Country Club. The outing raised more than $47,500 which directly benefits a current Sewickley Academy student by awarding them the W. Gregg Hansen Memorial Scholarship.
Carnegie Robotics Tests Robot on Campus – On Thursday, September 28, 2017, Carnegie Robotics was on campus testing an autonomous indoor mapping robot. The robot utilizes cutting edge hardware and software to Simultaneously Locate (itself) And Map the environment, known in the robotics world as “SLAM.” The robotic system then utilizes this real-time map to navigate through its environment and autonomously avoid obstacles.
Clothesline Sale Success – The Home and School Association’s 64th annual Clothesline and Used Book sale raised over $76,000 for the Academy.
Seniors Earn PMEA Chairs – On October 2, 2017, Will Sands received first chair in the French horn section at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Honors Band auditions. In addition, senior Natalia Arbelaez Solano auditioned for the PMEA Honors Orchestra and placed fourth chair out of 22 cellists.
Junior Gets the Gold – Junior Tatum McKelvey captured the WPIAL 2A Girls Individual Golf Championship at Diamond Run Golf Club on October 4, 2017.
Golf Teams Make History – For the first time ever in the sport of golf, both the girls and boys teams from the same school captured PIAA Team Championships in the same year, and, in this case, on the same day! This was also the first time in Academy history that girls and boys teams from the same sport captured gold in the same school year!
SA Inducts Athletes, Team into Sports Hall of Fame – On October 6, 2017, the Sewickley Academy community gathered together in the Events Center and Means Alumni Gym to celebrate the induction of Tamara “Tammy” Hoch ’03, Corey Diethorn ’04, Tommy Kehoe ’04, and the 1997 State Champion boys basketball team into the Sports Hall of Fame.
Pancake Breakfast Raises over $750 for Local Police and Fire Departments – Sewickley Academy held its 10th Annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, October 21, 2017. This year, 118 people attended the breakfast and the community raised $765 which will be split equally between the Sewickley and Edgeworth Police Departments and Cochran Hose Fire Company.
Spirit of Giving Food Drive – Students, faculty, staff, and Academy families gave generously to the Spirit of Giving Food Drive which benefited St. Vincent de Paul’s Good Samaritan Food Pantry. This year, the Academy raised $671.42 to purchase 35 12-pound turkeys from Safran’s Supermarket in Sewickley at wholesale price. The balance was donated to help purchase perishable items for families in need.
Author Sally Hobart Alexander Visits SA – Sally Hobart Alexander, a published children’s author, college professor, and mother, who lost her eye sight as an adult, spoke to Lower School students in December, explaining what it is like to be blind and how to best interact with someone who is blind. She returned to campus in January to speak to Middle and Senior School students about how her life changed when she became blind at the age of 26. Dave, her guide dog, accompanied her to the Academy during both visits, and demonstrated his “dog push-ups” that he does for daily exercise.
Senior School Serves – Senior Leila Wynnyckyj worked with Senior School history teacher Jessica Peluso and the Global Studies Department to put together a service trip to Haiti. Eight students traveled for five days to Haiti under the auspices of Work (formerly Team Tassy) in January, learning about Work’s philosophy of helping Haitians achieve economic security one family at a time. The group completed a few projects and interacted with local children, getting to know the families.
Whoa!Bots Wow with a Perfect Score – The Senior School Robotics Team, the Whoa!Bots, won first place with a perfect 9-0 record in the FIRST Relic Recovery Western Maryland Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, January 27, outscoring all opponents 3192-1689. The team took gold in February at the FTC Maryland Championship, advancing to the FTC East Super-Regional Championship in March. The Whoa!Bots earned a team-high 746 points in the first match of the divisional semifinals, but narrowly missed an invitation to the FTC World Championship.
SDLC Presents Taste of SA: Celebrating Who We Are – On Saturday, January 27, 2018, the Student Diversity Leadership Club (SDLC) hosted Taste of SA, formerly known as the International Dinner, a casual, free admission family event which featured foods and performances that are reflective of the community’s cultural traditions and international connections.
Two Students Earn Perfect Scores at PJAS – Srimayi Mulukutla and Prateek Adurty both won first place prizes with perfect scores in their respective categories at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) Competition on February 3, 2018, at Duquesne University. Srimayi, a Grade 8 student, presented her project “Increasing Efficiency of Non-Electric Refrigeration” in the ecology category. She also won the Director’s Award and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Engineering Outreach (SPEO) Sponsor Award. Prateek, a freshman, presented his project “Biofuel Energy Optimization Using Calorimetry” in the chemistry category. He received the Dr. James Manner Award for excellence in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the American Chemical Society and the Dr. Kurt C. Schreiber Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Duquesne University.
Winter Wonderland – The Academy’s 31st Annual Auction, “A Midwinter Night’s Dream,” was held at Allegheny Country Club on Saturday, February 10, 2018. The Annual Auction brings the Sewickley Academy community together to show their support and pride for the Academy each year. This year, we raised over $238,000!
¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! – Pittsburgh CLO presented their Gallery of Heroes show, “¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! The Roberto Clemente Story,” an original musical depicting the inspiring life of the Pittsburgh Pirates legend, hero, Hall of Famer, and humanitarian, Roberto Clemente, to students in Grades 1-8 on Monday, February 12.
SA Students win Ohio State Title in FIRST Tech Robotics Challenge – Four Sewickley Academy students – senior James Walton, juniors Aydin Turkay and Jayvir Monga, and freshman Christina Walton – competed as part of Team #8393 the Giant Diencephalic BrainSTEM robotics team. The team won first place overall at the FIRST Tech Challenge Ohio State Championship, claiming the Ohio State Champion title, in February. The team also won first place in the FTC Robotics World Championship in Detroit in May.
Boys Basketball Team Claims Back-to-Back WPIAL Championship – The varsity boys basketball team defeated OLSH 63-59 on Friday, March 2, at the Petersen Events Center to capture their second consecutive WPIAL Championship. Junior Nate Ridgeway was named Player of the Game by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, scoring 17 points and having 10 rebounds.
Author Jon Meacham Speaks at SA – On Wednesday, March 7, 2018, renowned presidential historian and author Jon Meacham addressed a large crowd in Rea Auditorium to talk about the “Art of Leadership: Lessons from the American Presidency.” Jon is a presidential historian, a contributing writer to The New York Times Book Review, a contributing editor at TIME, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He highlighted some common threads our nation’s exemplary leaders exhibited throughout history: humility, courage, compassion, and candor. The evening concluded with a Q&A session and book signing.
Dancing for a Cause – The Senior School’s Girl Up and Feminist clubs hosted Ravin’ for the Haven: A Fundraiser Benefiting Bethlehem Haven on Saturday, March 10, 2018. Over 75 people moved and grooved to dance and workout routines led by local Zumba and hip-hop instructors in Means Alumni Gym. The event was a huge success and raised over $1,000 for Bethlehem Haven. That’s what we call girl power!
Poetry Alive! Brings the Spoken Word to Life – Students in Pre-K through Grade 8 enjoyed high-energy performances and interactive workshops by Poetry Alive! this spring. The group provides students with a more in-depth exploration of literary analysis and writing and speaking skills to enhance curriculum. Performers Nadia and Tippin brought famous poems to life on stage, often with the help of students and teachers.
Students Engage in Authentic Service Learning in Belize – “Global Issues: World Health” students traveled to Belize over spring break to provide basic health assessments to patients in several Belizean communities. Students participated in authentic, curriculum-based service learning in a culturally diverse community. The collaboration between Sewickley Academy and Global Public Service Academies (GPSA), now in its second year, has helped nearly 500 patients by providing critical health-related services.
Two Students Receive NSLI-Y Scholarship – Freshman Ella Zhou and sophomore Luke Tyson were selected to receive the prestigious annual merit-based scholarship awards for the study of critical languages by American youth from the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program. Both studied Hindi as part of an immersion program in the west central part of India this summer, when Luke traveled to Indore and Ella studied in Pune.
Five Students Recognized by the 2018 National Merit Scholarship Program – Michael Bartholic and Will Sands were named commended students; Emmy Francek, Cole Luther, and Pranav Mulgund were named semifinalists and advanced as finalists. Pranav was selected as a winner of corporate-sponsored National Merit Eaton Scholarship, sponsored by Eaton Charitable Fund, and Emmy was offered the National Merit University of Oklahoma Scholarship.
Students Take Top Prizes from ACS – Honors chemistry students Tim Han and Erin Mahoney took the annual two-hour competitive exam sponsored by the Pittsburgh section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on April 7, 2018, earning first and second prize, respectively, in the small school division.
15 Years of a Winning Tradition – For the 15th consecutive year, the Sewickley Academy varsity boys tennis team claimed the WPIAL 2A Championship by defeating Indiana 4-1 on April 27, 2018.
Two Seniors Commit to Sports in College – The Academy hosted its Athletic College Signing Ceremony on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, for two seniors who committed to play sports in college. Both athletes signed a letter of intent, accompanied by their families and coach, in front of the Hall of Fame in the Events Center. Will Nocito will golf at Hamilton College, and Sam Casale will compete on the track and field team at the University of Chicago.
SA Inducts 12 Students to Cum Laude Society – Twelve members of Sewickley Academy’s senior class, who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship during their junior and senior years, were honored with membership to the Cum Laude Society on May 21, 2018, including Michael Bartholic, Peter Curran, Emmy Francek, Annabel Gillespie, Lucinda Gillespie, Cole Luther, Heba Malik, Claire Meakem, Pranav Mulgund, Will Nocitio, Nishant Purewal, and Kaiyuan “Vincent” Wu.
Senior Receives Leadership Award – Senior Michael Hertzberg was selected as the Pennsylvania recipient of the Billy Michal Student Leadership Award. The National WWII Museum American Spirit Award is given to one Grade 8 – 12 student from each state and the District of Columbia who demonstrates the American Spirit in his or her community. The award recognizes students who demonstrate that “the values of leadership, teamwork, tolerance, creativity, and perseverance can and should be learned and lived by all Americans regardless of age.”
Grade 8 Student Wins First at National History Day Competition – Grade 8 student Roshni Thakkar won first place in the Junior Individual Website Category at the National History Day state competition for her project “Nelson Mandela: A Conflicting Journey to Justice.”
Senior Wins Back-to-Back Art Competition – Senior Priya Melonio was named a back-to-back winner in 2017 and 2018 of Slippery Rock University’s (SRU) Instagram drawing contest for high school students. The chairperson for SRU Department of Art and jurors voted and named Priya’s entries as the winner out of 160-plus drawings submitted by students from 19 different high schools.
Junior Awarded with Certificate of Superior Writing – The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) awarded junior Linsey Szabo with a Certificate of Superior Writing – the highest distinction given in the NCTE Competition – for her essay “Light and Dark.” Schools nominated 462 students this year, and Linsey was one of 227 students to receive this honor.
Spring Musical Nominated for Three Gene Kelly Awards – Sewickley Academy’s Senior School production of The Sound of Music was nominated for three Gene Kelly Awards – best musical (budget level 1), best scenic design (budget level 1), and best all-student orchestra, which included 30 musicians – the largest in school history!
Day of Giving is a Huge Success! – Sewickley Academy exceeded its Giving Tuesday goal of $10,000, raising over $13,000 for the Annual Fund. The Academy also surpassed its Annual Fund Day of Giving Challenge goal of $25,000, raising a total of $35,990 and unlocking an additional $35,000 from our sponsors bringing the Day of Giving grand total to $70,990!
Global Studies Certificates – Nineteen members of the senior class graduated with a Global Studies Certificate.
Class of 2018 Volunteers – The Class of 2018 completed a total of 6,470 hours of community service during their time at the Academy.
