School Movers & Shakers - June

Mars Area

Mars Area High School Fightin’ Planets have earned the title of Best High School Mascot in America as the winner of the 2026 National High School Mascot Brackets competition. 

Mars Area High School junior Joey Fitzgerald (third from left) organized a Candy for Cancer collection to benefit local cancer patients. Working with her fellow National Honor Society members, she assembled 300 bags of candy for the cause.

Mars Area Primary Center students load boxes of diapers onto a school bus as part of the school’s annual “Stuff the Bus” Diaper Drive, held April 13-17.

Mars Area Elementary School third-grader Emma Vernon was named a finalist in the 2025-2026 Highmark Caring Place Children’s Grief Awareness Poster Contest.

Anchored Christian Academy

Anchored Christian Academy in Mars announced that sixth grade student, Levi Conner won the Eastern states division in the annual Daughters of the Revolution essay contest. His entry was submitted by the Kushkushkee Trail Chapter, and he previously won chapter level, first place in the state of Pennsylvania division, and now the Eastern States division.

Senca Valley

During a school board meeting held on May 11, 37 retirees were recognized for their combined total of 960 years of hard work and dedication to the Seneca Valley School District. Members of the Seneca Valley School Board and Administration thanked the 2025-26 retirees for their unwavering commitment and service to students and staff members across the district.

Fox Chapel

Fox Chapel Area High School students Victoria Pfendler and Amelia Tedesco have been honored by the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) and InnerView as part of the 2025-2026 Community Service Impact Awards. 

Fox Chapel Area High School senior Sophia Tai and junior Drew Moyer were named 2026 High School All-American Strength and Conditioning Athletes of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Sophia was recognized for girls wrestling and rowing, and Drew was recognized for baseball.

Thirty Fox Chapel Area School District students won awards for their submissions in the 2026 Pittsburgh Region and the national Scholastic Writing Awards. Sophomore Veronika 

McCarl and freshman Rebecca Dorneich both won Gold Medals at the national level.  Veronika won for her poem, “The Stillness That Knows Too Much,” and Rebecca won for her flash fiction writing, “The Half-Life of a Hug.”  

Two teams of Fox Chapel Area High School students won awards at the BotsIQ state finals competition. The “Trident 2.0” battle bot won the “Best Engineered Bot” award.

The team members are Zhanyu “Eric” Jiang, Ayush Patel, Georgy “Gosha” Pistsov, and Cecilia Sumrok. The “Rockem Sockem 2.0” bot won third place in “Engineering Documentation.” The team members are Jackson Biehl, Benjamin Sun, Yixin “Amy” Zhang, Mateo Phelan-VidaL, Nicholas Spector, and Brady Stocker. 

Bishop Canevin

Bishop Canevin High School announced that after serving as their interim principal since August of 2025, Michael R. Palcsey has officially been appointed as the Principal of Bishop Canevin High School.

Twelve leaders from among the Canevin student population were chosen to participate in the 171st Air Refueling Wing (Air Force/Air National Guard) All-Star Leadership Day in Coraopolis. The students took part in leadership and physical challenges, interactive missions, and aircraft tours. They also met mascots Steely McBeam and the Pirate Parrot and listened to Pittsburgh Pirate Paul Skenes talk about serving one's country (he was previously a student at the Air Force Academy). 

Bishop Canevin High School hosted 301 seventh and eighth graders from 19 Diocesan elementary schools, plus an additional 47 principals/teachers/parent volunteers/Diocesan personnel on April 24 for an event called LitFest. There was a prayer service, a presentation by author Stephanie Engelman, and team competition in Kahoots and LitCast.