BPHS Seniors win STEPP award

Mackenzie Happe, Staff Writer

June 4, 2013

BPHS seniors Kaitlyn Wagner, Audrey Donnelly, and Maggie Donnelly won the prestigious STEPP (Student, Teacher, and Exemplary Practive or Partnering) award.

They were awarded this honor for starting the Bethel Park chapter of the Buddy Program which includes special needs kids in typical teenage activities.

In order to start this organization, the girls had to talk to the Director of Special Education and explain their ideas. Once they were cleared, they got information out to the students and parents about upcoming planned events.

This organization has been going on for about 3 years now and has grown over the time.

“The success stems from having about 30 people in attendance and never skipping a month of activities,” Kaitlyn said. “Our biggest accomplishment is all of the friendships made.”

The girls are proud that they have started an organization that has helped the special needs kids feel more comfortable in our school and they plan to keep it going once they leave BPHS.

Audrey, Kaitlyn and Maggie were honored along with two other award winners during a dinner held at Cornell High School.

About the Contributor

Mackenzie Happe, Staff Writer

When you walk around Bethel Park High School there is clearly a diverse student body; however, everyone has one thing in common: immense school spirit. At Bethel Park, students pride themselves in their extracurriculars. Whether it's on the court, or in the musical you can count on the student body to give every performance their all. "I really enjoy being involed in Bethel Park High School," says Mackenize Happe, a senior this year and active member of the community. Students like Mackenzie work hard everyday to make sure this school is a great place. Mackenzie has quite an impressive resume. She is the secretary of the Student Government Association, a tennis player, dancer in the musical, and member of the Homecoming committee. She was also a part of Powderpuff, where the seniors had a remarkable win. When she isn't busy in school, you can find her serving up some delicious treats at the local Dairy Queen. Mackenzie laughs, "My favorite part is all the free ice cream!" Mackenzie has many aspirations for the future. She has a passion for journalism and plans to study it next year at the University of Maryland. She even participates in a journalism internship at Point Park University every week. We can assure that there will be many articles from this member of Hawk Eye! Mackenzie is really looking forward to working with the paper this year and believes she has many positive contributions to make. With students like Mackenzie, we can trust that Bethel Park will keep moving in the right direction. Written by: Olivia Zeiler, Staff Writer