A team of eight students from Butler Area High School has advanced to the 27th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg.

The team will represent Pennsylvania in the national High School Mock Trial Competition May 6-9 in Philadelphia.

The Butler Area High School Mock Trial Team is composed of Patrick Fitz, Shannon Gallagher, Stefan Kemp, Madison Kerr, Mara Shingleton, David Thompson, Zach Tomasovic and Steven Wuchina.

This year's hypothetical case focuses on the murder of a financial analyst employed by a Philadelphia investment firm.

• Fox Chapel Area High School teams placed first and second in the Northern Area Chess Tournament. The first place team was senior Connor Weis, junior Sequoia Leuba, sophomore Philip Moncla, and freshmen Dustin Ferrone and Prem Rajgopal.

Members of the second-place team included senior Robert Werner, junior Jeffrey Uselman and sophomores Alexander Norman, Billy Wang and Anthony Werner.

• Five members of the Hampton High School newspaper staff were winners of the 2010 Scholastic and Collegiate Keystone Press Awards contest, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

The students include junior Samantha Kern and senior Kayla Zatezelo in the Cartoon/Graphic Illustration category; Honorable Mention for "What if..." by senior Jeff Kustra; Layout and Design category, Honorable Mention for Public Displays of Affection, sophomore Lauren Bujaky; and sophomore Meg Omecene, Personality Profile category, second place for Assistant Principals.

• Two teams of students from Marshall Middle School in North Allegheny School District won first and second place in the U.S. Department of Energy's Science Bowl competition.

First-place team members are captain Michael Becich, John Barczynski, Surabhi Beriwal, Songela Chen and Rahul Rao. As the first place team, these students have won a six-day, all-expense-paid trip to compete in the upcoming national competition in Washington, D.C.

The second place winning team members are Charles Ross, Sohail Sidique, Kylle Silberstein and Joey Zubrow.

The middle school received a $350 for fielding the first and second place teams.

• Five North Hills students earned first place honors in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science regional competition and will compete May 16-18 at Penn State.

Earning top honors were seventh-graders Jacob Gettens, Marie McConnell and Joel Zewe and ninth-graders Cammie Garth and Anna Madrishin.

In addition to earning first place, three students received special awards for their projects. Marie McConnell was given the Westinghouse Pittsburgh Chapter of Women in Nuclear Award and the Scientific Excellence Award from the Pittsburgh Society of Women Engineers. Joel Zewe received an award from the American Nuclear Society. Cammie Garth was recognized by Duquesne University Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Second-place honors were awarded to seventh-grader Andrew Nolish, eighth-grader Alain Niyibizi and ninth-graders Kelly Gordon and Robyn Madrishin.

Seventh-grader Matthew Seltzer earned third place honors for Mac vs. PC.

• Marshall Middle School eighth-grader Mike Becich has been named a semifinalist by the National Geographic Society and will compete in the 2010 Pennsylvania Geographic Bee.

The competition will be held at Penn State in April.

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