Julia Marturano, Kala McCauley, Matt McGillick, Grace Bender, and Lexi Loughner
Each year, seniors in AP and honors English at Penn-Trafford High School are required to complete a project focused around one of their passions. This year there are multiple projects hoping to impact the community.
Senior Madi Bruni is centering her project around raising awareness for child grief and the effects it has on children.
“I chose this project because my dad died my freshman year, and I felt alone,” said Bruni.
For this reason, Bruni teamed up with Erin Moore, a P-T senior with a similar story, to create a support group for kids who had lost someone close to them.
“[I felt] there was no support system in this school and I had nowhere to go, so we started a Holding onto Hope Grief Group where kids can come and get that support. Most kids feel alone when they go through the grieving process and I never want anyone to feel the way I did,” Bruni commented. “To this day, I still have trouble coping with the loss of my dad, but it has made me a stronger person and that is what I want for these kids.”
The projects are worked on by students starting in the beginning of October and are finished in May.
So far, Bruni and Moore have not just created their group, but they have also made and sold Holding onto Hope bracelets.
“The money will be donated to the Caring Place where kids can go and get professional help,” Bruni added.
The girls’ next meeting will be held Feb. 2.
These are not the only seniors who are doing something they feel strongly about. Seniors Jessica Deutsch and Natasha Patkar are hoping to raise money by holding a “Warrior Thon” on Mar. 17. All of the proceeds will go to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Division of Pediatric Cancer.
“This is not your ordinary school dance; this is a seven hour dance marathon with many things to do. We are hoping to have a few performances as well,” said Deutsch.
The idea was sparked from other schools holding dance marathons, such as Penn State.
“We are hoping that the Warrior Thon will become a yearly thing,” said Patkar.
The event will begin at 10 p.m. March 17 and end at 5 a.m. on March 18. They have a night of dancing planned with activities, food and a DJ.
Ticket sales began during lunches on Jan. 17. Cost to attend is $25 and includes a t-shirt.
Seniors Chris Montgomery and Josh Prokopec have decided to create an E-Sports league at Penn-Trafford High School as part of their joint senior project. E-Sports are professional video gaming and is a rapidly expanding industry. Montgomery and Prokopec chose to bring this flourishing industry into P-T by attempting to establish P-T’s own E-Sports club.
The duo said they were inspired to choose E-Sports for their senior projects as a result of their love for video games and competition.
“The undying love I’ve had for Nintendo, the passion for Smash, and the thrill of competition are all reasons that I wish to have this happen,” Prokopec said.
“Ever since I could play them, I loved competitive video games. Nothing was more interesting than watching myself and others give our best and see how far we could push the game,” Montgomery added.
From Montgomery’s and Prokopec’s love of gaming and competing came the idea of creating a competitive league playing Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers.
“We want to form the basis of a competitive Super Smash Bros league,” Prokopec said.
After forming their idea, the two have created goals including forming the league and setting up small Super Smash Brothers tournaments.
“League formation is the final goal, though that is improbable for this year,” Prokopec said. “Hopefully, the small tournaments that are being set will provide the basis for the league in the future.”
Montgomery and Prokopec have made progress on their project thus far. They have created the high school’s first ever Super Smash Brothers club, reached out to professional E-Sport players and tournament organizers, and began to plan an interschool tournament for Super Smash Brothers for schools from the section will compete in.
Prokopec added, “The entire plan of attack is established as well as a growing Smash club with approximately thirty current members.”
The seniors wish to have their project make an impact on P-T and the United States. They wish to have E-Sports grow in popularity in P-T and the U.S.
“The goal is to spread awareness about E-Sports and what we can do to help it grow in the U.S.” Montgomery said, “We plan to do this by creating outlets for competitive gaming in P-T and other schools, and peaking interest in new generations of students who are passionate about E-Sports.”
Senior projects are meant to impact the community. These seniors, along with many others are halfway to completing their goal.