Allderdice Career & Technical Education

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21 Allderdice students competed in the 2026 PA DECA State Career and Development Conference. Of those 21, 7 students placed top 5 and 6 qualified for the international competition in April. Congrats to all the winners.

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. For more information on the Allderdice DECA Chapter, contact Advisor Christian Ricketts at [email protected]

In Mr. Wolfe and Mr. Ricketts’ classes, our 10th-grade students are taking on the challenge of building insulated houses to protect Pikachu from the cruel summer heat! This fun project combines creativity with engineering principles as students explore how different materials and designs impact heat transfer. By testing their structures, they’ll gain hands-on experience with insulation, energy efficiency, and problem-solving—all while keeping Pikachu cool and safe.

On February 19th, 33 members of the Allderdice DECA Chapter traveled to Hershey, PA to compete in the 2025 PA Career and Development Conference. Our chapter earned several awards including the largest growth of any Chapter in Pennsylvania. We increased student membership by 327%! The following are awards and accomplishments by students over the past few days.

State Champions - Financial Services Team Decision Making - Eli Kranjec and Luke Pena. They will now compete on the international level in April (Orlando, Florida).

State Finalists- Human Resources Management, Adaline Lee. Sports and Entertainment Marketing Team Decision, Noah Cline and Natalia Connor. Entrepreneurship Team Decision Making, Niam Predd and Sam Nicotra.

Quiz Bowl Semifinalists - The team of Hari Arunachalam, Michael Bisno, and Brady Grodin

School Based Enterprise Gold Certification - Eli Kranjec and Natalia Connor, The Dragon’s Den Student Store. This award allows two students to attend the international conference in April.

Top Chapter Exam Score - Priya Holloway
Top Chapter Role Play Scores - Luke Pena, Eli Kranjec, and Adaline Lee

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. If you or any of your students are interested in joining, please have them see Mr. Ricketts in Room 346

Jorja, a senior in the Engineering program is taking initiative in her capstone project. She is using a hydroponic system to cultivate tomatoes, showcasing the intersection of sustainability and innovation in agriculture.

Over the weeekend, Allderdice High School students made an impressive debut at the First Tech Challenge hosted by Upper Saint Clair. First Tech Challenge is an exciting platform where teams design, program, and build robots to compete against other schools in regional competitions.

Our TV Production and Yearbook classes had an memorable experience this week. Mr. Baumgart and Mr. Ricketts took thier classes to the WPXI newstation WPXI-TV Pittsburgh. Students learned the history of the news station and all aspects of the local news. At the end of the trip, students had the chance to ask new personalities WPXI Katherine Amenta WPXI Gordon Loesch questions and see the news live.

Don't forget, Magnet applications close December 8th!

Students in Mr. Pindroh's engineering class are starting their rookie season of FIRST Tech Challenge. Through FIRST Tech Challenge students learn to think like engineers. Teams design, build, and code robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams.

Students in Mr. Ricketts’ personal finance class used interactive investing software to simulate 7 different types of investing including savings accounts, CD accounts, mutual funds, and more.

With the support of our STEAM Co-ordinator and the Howmet Aerospace Foundation, our teachers got to take part in a 2-day FTC Robotics training. FTC challenges students to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in head-to-head challenges. Howmet Aerospace FIRST Pittsburgh Public Schools

Students in the Engineering Magnet are designing prosthetics and assistive devices, using advanced manufacturing techniques. Students are going as far as programing arduinos to simulate human movement.