Megan Welsch and Mike Wahl probably would be friends by now anyway because they get along well and they're upperclassmen at Norwin High School.

	Anita Dufalla/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

But their participation last year with Data Match Inc.'s Valentine's Day compatibility survey got them to notice one another sooner.

"We became really good friends," said Welsch, 17, a senior on student council, about Wahl, a junior. "We probably would have become friends anyway, but being on each other's list broke the ice. It was neat."

Since 1986, Norwin High School has offered this type of "match-making" opportunity, using Data Match, a Baldwin Borough-based company, to help teenagers make friends. In recent years, the student council has sponsored the service as a fund-raising activity that brings in an average of $400 year and offers an entertaining way for the 1,700 members of the student body a chance to meet each other.

While Valentine's week is the busiest time of year for Data Match, the 20-year-old company offers compatibility services year-round to school districts and colleges throughout the region, nation and as far away as the International School of Beijing, China.

Some schools offer the service at the beginning of the school year, especially for freshmen, as a way to help students get acquainted with people.

"This year, we're processing close to a million individual surveys, or about 10 percent of the high schools in the United States," said Rich Capper, president of Data Match Inc.

Data Match has been mentioned in Newsweek magazine and was featured on the CBS "Early Show" last year.

Capper said he didn't know of any student who believes a compatibility list is a roster of people they should date, but he has heard anecdotal stories of teachers who have married after being on each other's list.

Then there are the cases he's learned of at Notre Dame, Harvard, the University of Pittsburgh and Ohio State University where people who were already married took the survey and their spouses ended up on their compatibility lists.

In addition to Norwin High School, numerous schools and districts in southwestern Pennsylvania regularly use Data Match services, often as a fund-raiser around Valentine's Day.

Among them are Penn-Trafford, Greater Latrobe High School, Franklin Regional, Plum, Woodland Hills South Park, Chartiers Valley Senior High School, Keystone Oaks, McKeesport Area, South Allegheny, North Allegheny and schools throughout the city of Pittsburgh.

Bishop Canevin High School, Our Lady of Sacred Heart High School, Turkeyfoot Valley, Geibel Catholic High School, Bethlehem Center High School and Butler High School are also participants.

"Fun" is the one word many students use to describe the 33-question survey and the subsequent computer matches. The results are sold for a small fee of usually $1 to $2 to whomever wants to see their list.

Taking the survey and buying the results are voluntary.

Lauren Markley, a South Park High School junior, received her results and was pleasantly surprised that three of the five girls on her list were her closest friends and the number one boy on her list was her prom date last year.

"This year, the list was really accurate," Markley said. "Everybody looks forward to getting the lists and sharing the information. It's just fun when people come up and say, 'You're on my list.' I've done it every year since ninth grade."

At South Park, the service is used as a fund-raiser sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Organization to help pay for the annual teacher appreciation luncheon, said PTSO member Karen Moore, who has been handling the event for the past six years.

This district decided that the students' lists should include 10 matches, half of each gender.

The McKeesport Area School District uses the survey as part of required basic computer classes to show that compiling data and the subsequent analysis can be fun.

"The fund-raiser is sponsored by academic and technology teachers instructing on computers," said Julie Stewart, director of vocational education and special projects at McKeesport Area. "The students are learning that data analysis doesn't have to be boring and monotonous. Jobs of the future will require computer skills. We try to use lessons and projects the kids want.

"It's very easy and raises anywhere from $100 to a couple hundred," Stewart added. "The money helps."

Chartiers Valley Senior High School used Data Match's service during Valentine's Day week as a fund-raiser for the class of 2004, said Jessica Simcho, class sponsor and biology teacher. "The students think it's fun to see who they're matched with. A total of 400 completed surveys were sent in to Data Match. We're selling the results now."

Even the teachers get involved at Moon Area High School, said Staci Amadio, an honors English teacher and sponsor of the Key Club, which coordinates the Data Match survey there.

Once the surveys are sent to Data Match, they are hand-keyed into a computer and sent back within seven to 10 days.

"We do not sell or share any information from answer sheets to any company or government entity," Capper said, adding that he doesn't give out numbers sold from various districts.

Only the student's name and homeroom are on the sheet.

As soon as the unused sheets are returned, along with 60 cents for each one sold, the surveys are destroyed and the names are erased from the computer.

Capper said not only did Data Match make money, but it also gave back by offering 11 scholarships a year to participating schools -- nine $1,000 and two $500 scholarships -- for students involved in organizations such as student council, the National Honor Society, Key Club and Future Business Leaders of America.