Students who earned local, state and national accolades and recent retirees with a combined 164 years in the district were recognized by the West Jefferson Hills School District Board during their recent monthly meeting.

A total of 16 students from Jefferson Hills Intermediate School earned honors for their PTA Reflections submissions and were recognized by the Board. Ava Flood won a National PTA Award of Excellence for her Dance Choreography entry in the Intermediate grade division. She will receive a $200 Young Artist Scholarship in addition to a silver medal and a plaque. Alex Lauver, Danielle Parsons and Flood were selected Pennsylvania honorees for their PTA Reflections and received a medal and a plaque.

A record number of Thomas Jefferson High School students recently began taking Advanced Placement (AP) Exams and some of those students recently were lauded at a pair of events.  Students who pass AP exams may qualify to earn college credits.

By Sarah Petrovich, TJHS senior

The Community College of Allegheny County will hold a free Healthcare Careers Academy (HCA) at South Campus for students from the South Hills – Mon Valley areas during the month of July.  HCA is a two-week summer experience designed to expose students who are entering grades 10, 11 and 12 to family-sustaining career options in healthcare. Participants will discover that today’s healthcare careers extend well beyond being a physician or nurse—and that many of these careers can be attained with a CCAC education. This project, funded by the Jefferson Regional Foundation, aims to empower students with the goal to increase their own economic mobility, and, on a larger scale, to improve the economic health of our region.