Yesun Kaplan, a senior at Fox Chapel Area High School and A.W. Beattie Career Center, and Melody MacFarland, a North Hills High School senior, recently finished second in the Phipps Conservatory Fairchild Challenge. As part of a yearlong project, they researched, wrote and illustrated a 20-page graphic novel about an environmental scientist.

• Six Fox Chapel Area High School students recently placed at the Pittsburgh Diocesan Qualifying Tournament for the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Championship Tournament. Sophomore Darwin Leuba and freshman Sara Puthenpurayil finished second in policy debate, senior Rama Godse was third in original oratory, senior Rishi Mirchandani was third in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and senior Frank Lou was second in student congress.

• Shaler Area High School senior Kevin Kachur won the grand prize and finished first overall in the recent High School Japanese Speech Contest. Shaler students were among nine schools demonstrating their Japanese speaking ability. Senior Luke Pomrenke was second overall. In the Intermediate category, Evan Lysko, a sophomore, finished second and sophomores Jake Matthews and Stephen Borgen tied for third.

• St. Sebastian School seventh and eighth grade students recently won awards in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science regional competition. Earning first place awards were John Adamczyk, Mary Doerfler, Anne Kilpatrick, Lauren Krebs, Xavier Moskala, Emma Sennott, Patrick Sharpe, Michael Taffe and Katherine Wells. All will compete in the state finals in May at Penn State University.

• Toni Burley, a senior at La Roche College, was a winner at the recent Smart Tag App Hackathon powered by AT&T. Ms. Burley of New Castle is an information technology major and a member of Zeta Alpha Pi, the honors chemistry sorority that promotes the education of science among women of La Roche.

• North Hills High School seniors Ryan Balog and Molly Evans recently were named the school’s Volunteers of the Year in recognition for their volunteer service. For four years, Ryan has led “Team Balog” in the Western Pennsylvania Epilepsy Walk/Run and raised more than $6,000 for the event in support of his sister, who suffers from the disease. Molly organized the high school’s T-shirt sale last spring to raise funds for victims in the Franklin Regional High School tragedy and organized an Angel Tree to encourage fellow students to purchase holiday gifts for children in need as part of Angel’s Place.

• Three Saint Sebastian musicians have been selected by audition for the Diocese of Pittsburgh North District Honors Band: Mary Doerfler, clarinet; Cecilia Engelhardt, baritone horn and Matthew Santucci, baritone horn.

• Pine-Richland High juniors Ross Ivey and William Newell represented Pine-Richland at the recent Pennsylvania Music Educators All- State Band in Hershey. Junior Madison Engle and senior Rowan Grieb represented the district at the PMEA State Choir.

• Caroline "Coco" Redican of Fox Chapel, a seventh grader at Shady Side Academy Middle School, has been named a finalist in the 2015 Young Naturalist Awards, a nationwide research-based science competition for grades 7-12. The title of Redican’s entry is "A Study of Food Preference of Winter Birds in Western Pennsylvania."

• Two Seneca Valley students earned awards at the recent Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Senior Andrew Lingenfelter received a fourth place category award in physics and a special award from the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center for a simulation he created demonstrating the quantum mechanics theory of wave/particle duality. Sophomore Jared Jordan earned a special award from Duquesne University Department of Biological Sciences for his study of brain lateralization in echinoderms.

• Deer Lakes strings students Alex Gall (violin), Alyssa Keelin (cello) and Eleesa Sappe (viola) participated in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Junior High Orchestra Festival.

• Shady Side Academy junior Abbie Minard of Valencia was recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers with two national medals in the writing category of the 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

• Mason Zadan of Eden Christian Academy finished fourth in his division in the physics senior division of the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair. He also received a $50 cash award from Duquesne University, Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Science. David Guardiani and Joe Dandrea also participated with their project in the computer science senior division.

• Five North Hills High School students took home top honors at the Pennsylvania High School Computer Fair regional competition: Seniors Ryan Burek, Jordan Linder and Luke Stotz, finished first in the logo design category; junior Pierce Chaffin finished first in the animation category; and sophomore Brian Venturella finished first in the programming/mobile app design category. They will compete at the state competition May 19 at Dickinson College in Carlisle.

• Two Rowan Elementary School students in the Seneca Valley School District placed in the recent National Energy Technology Laboratory Earth Day poster competition. Ariana Drake finished second and Olivia Dejeet was third out of 500 entries in grades K-4.

• Christina Patterson of Wexford, a student at Providence Heights Alpha School in McCandless, has been selected as a Carson Scholar, making her eligible for a $1,000 college scholarships. Awards are presented to students in grades 4-11 who excel academically and are dedicated to serving their communities.

• Fox Chapel Area High School senior Daniel Vargo and Shady Side Academy Senior School junior Elena Xiong have been named national winners in The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America Essay Contest. They are among 50 winners from across the nation and the only two winners from Pennsylvania.

• Shady Side Academy senior Brendan Leech of Squirrel Hill has been selected as one of 565 semifinalists nationwide to advance to the final round of the 2015 U.S. Presidential Scholars competition. Leech is among 17 semifinalists chosen in Pennsylvania and four in the Pittsburgh area.

• Peter Biernesser, a junior at La Roche College, is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from the Association of Information Technology Professionals. The essay competition challenged students to discuss the future of 3-D printing. He is executive vice president of the LaRoche chapter of AITP and a member of Delta Mu Delta, the International Business Honor Society. He’s a 2011 graduate of Shaler Area High School,

• Three fifth graders were recognized as 2015 BASF Earth Day poster contest winners at Evans City Middle School in the Seneca Valley School District. Caroline Zulick finished in first place, Kelly Koegler was second and Emma Conrad was third.

• These are recent employees of the month at St. Barnabas Health System: Lisabeth Bickar of Ross, a personal care assistant at The Arbors III at St. Barnabas; Barbara Spithaler of Adams, a reconciliation coordinator at the accounting department at St. Barnabas Health System; Julie Sturges of Richland, a cook at St. Barnabas Nursing Home; Susan Sprow of Richland, an admissions coordinator for St. Barnabas Communities; Pamela Garcia of Middlesex, a certified occupational therapy assistant at Valencia Woods at St. Barnabas.

To submit a North notable: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

First Published: May 1, 2015, 4:00 a.m.