The Community College of Allegheny County North campus chapter of Psi Beta, the national honor society for psychology students in two-year colleges, has earned a 2009 Chapter Excellence Award. This award is given to all chapters meeting or exceeding Psi Beta's chapter excellence standards.

The chapter was nominated by its advisers, professors Allison Barash and Anne Louise Dailey, Ph.D. It has a long record of community service and of bringing speakers to the campus.

Two Fox Chapel Area School District publications recently received state awards in the 40th Annual Pennsylvania School Boards Association Educational Publications Contest. The district received an Award of Excellence, the highest honor, for the 2007-2008 Annual Report & State of the Schools. The district received an honorable mention for the 2008-2009 Art & Activities Calendar.

Bonnie Berzonski, Fox Chapel Area School District coordinator of communications, coordinated the publications.

The district community swim program is offering an instructor aide class that will begin Saturday in North Hills Senior High School pool.

Successful completion of the course will qualify students to be hired as swim instructors by the district community swim program. To register for the class, students must be age 14 by Jan. 1, 2010, and be able to swim. Instructor aide classes will meet Saturdays through Nov. 7. The cost is $50.

For more information, contact Sue Stein, community swim coordinator, at 412-318-1437 or via e-mail steins@nhsd.net.

Highmark Foundation has awarded Hance Elementary School $3,500 for 2009-10 with funding provided by the Highmark Healthy High 5 School Challenge Grant. The grant will be used to continue support for the school's Pacesetters Program K-3.

Grant applicant Terry Lea Wentz said the Pacesetters Program includes nutritional awareness and practice, a mileage club, cooking classes and taste testing new fruits and vegetables, and participation in other nutrition-related programs throughout the school year.

Highmark Healthy High 5 is a five-year, $100 million children's health promotion initiative of the Highmark Foundation.

The school will host a Family Fall Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Activities will include: kids' games, a climbing wall, a dunk tank, a petting zoo, a giant water balloon launch and "Deal or No Deal." There will be a general store selling homemade food items and crafts, as well as a silent auction of gift baskets.

Proceeds will benefit the Parent-Faculty Association and the junior and senior classes, who are raising funds for their annual mission trip. This year the students will work on a Habitat for Humanity project.

Visitors should take Interstate 79 to exit 96, Portersville, and follow the signs for parking.

Portersville Christian has more than 250 children enrolled in Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade.

The faculty and staff of Quaker Valley Middle School has been awarded the 2009 Velma Award for their work to repair, paint and renovate the home of a family living in the school district.

Named for retired assistant superintendent Velma Saire, the award is presented at the beginning of each school year to honor those who "stick their neck out." It is symbolized by a trophy of a giraffe, which the recipient keeps for a year before it is presented to the next honoree. The names of those honored are added to a perpetual plaque displayed in the district office.

Accepting the 2009 Velma Award on behalf of the faculty and staff of Quaker Valley Middle School were principals Sean Aiken and Caroline Johns, and chief organizer and "forewoman" of the work crew, Tracy Shaffer.

The district will present Cyber Sense & Sensibility at a parent meeting at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, in the senior high school auditorium.

Presented by a representative of the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office and local law enforcement, the program will feature a review of Internet dangers, including online predators, sharing of inappropriate images/texts and cyber bullying. Questions and answers will follow.

Due to the nature of the presentation, children should not attend.