• Three North Hills Senior High School musicians were selected to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Conference. Senior Luke Plizga and juniors Lauretta Werner and Sharon Yee auditioned to perform in April in Valley Forge, Pa.

Luke, a bassoonist, was chosen to perform in the Pennsylvania All-State Wind Ensemble; Lauretta, a violinist, was selected for the All-State Orchestra; and Sharon, a trumpeter, was seated with the All-State Band.

• Fox Chapel Area High School sophomore cello player Salem Hilal was selected to perform with the prestigious 2009 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Orchestra in April. The All-State Orchestra Festival was held in conjunction with the association's annual in-service conference in Valley Forge, Pa. Salem is the son of Mrs. Lisa and Dr. Elias Hilal of Fox Chapel Borough.

• Three North Allegheny Senior High school seniors were recognized in the 2009 Scholastic Keystone Press Awards Contest.

Sarah Steimer won second place in the Public Service category for an article titled "Facebook: A Social-Networking Site Or The Reason You Were Rejected From College?" and a second place award in the Personality Profile category for her article titled "Art: The Salvation For Juliette Deeds."

Jon Stein won a second place award in the Review category for his article titled "Twilight: A Movie With Bite."

Randy Potter received an Honorable Mention in the Cartoon/Graphic Illustration category for his artwork titled "The Auto Industry Crisis Hits The North Pole."

The Scholastic Keystone Press Awards Contest is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

• Teams of students from Carson Middle School in North Allegheny School District won first and second place in the 2009 National Middle School Science Bowl regional competition.

First-place team members Connor Phillips, Katya Borisov, Jeff Rabinowitz, Eric Hochendoner and Lowell Smith. The students won an all-expense-paid trip to compete in the national competition in Washington, D.C.

The second-place winning team members were Kevin O'Brien, Ben Gibbs, Ben Ziolkowski and Genesis Mlakar.

• Seven North Hills students earned outstanding achievement awards in two and three-dimensional art from the North Hills Art Center's "Celebrate the Arts" juried art show.

Award winners include juniors Jamie Wittman and Evan Wallace, photography; senior Leann Fabian, pottery; freshmen Emily Dubrosky and Victoria Huwey, 2D; and senior Ethan Walker and freshman Phil Washy, 3D.

The show featured work from students in North Hills, Pine-Richland, Mars, North Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Hampton, and Shaler Area school districts. Also, St. Sebastian, St. Ursula, St. Bonaventure and the New Church School were represented.

• Pine-Richland Middle School seventh-grader Lauren Brown earned second place in the 59th Annual Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee held at the University of Pittsburgh in March.

The matchup lasted 21 rounds and three hours. Brown battled 108 spelling bee champions from throughout Western Pennsylvania in the semifinal round, then took on 30 spellers in the final round.

• James R. McNeil, of Seven Fields; Steven Keller, of Ross; and Angela Wells, of Seven Fields, have been named Sister Rita Yeasted Scholarship Award recipients.

Mr. McNeil, a senior majoring in English language and literature, has received a $1,000 scholarship for the spring semester.

Mr. Keller, a senior majoring in professional writing, has received a $1,000 scholarship for the spring semester.

Ms. Wells, a junior dual majoring in secondary English education and language and literature with an English as a Second Language specialist certification has received a $1,000 scholarship for the spring semester.

All three attended La Roche University when the awards were presented.