Allderdice High School

Pittsburgh Allderdice Students Earn Top Honors at State STEM Competitions
Students from Pittsburgh Allderdice High School earned outstanding recognition this year at both the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) competitions and the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF), showcasing exceptional achievement across engineering, artificial intelligence, biomedical science, astronomy, environmental science, chemistry, renewable energy, and behavioral science.
The Allderdice STEM research team demonstrated remarkable depth and diversity, with students conducting advanced investigations often associated with collegiate-level research programs. Their projects addressed real-world challenges ranging from infant healthcare and climate science to robotics, tissue engineering, renewable energy, and astrophysics.
Pittsburgh Allderdice High School
2025 STEM Competition Awards and Recognitions

Felicity Aldous
Project: Affordable Newborn Heart Rate Monitor
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award, Perfect Score (5.00)
PJAS State Competition — First Award (Perfect Score)
Recipient of the Director’s Award for Excellence in Engineering

Erinn Kannel
Project: Impact of Increased UV Exposure on Flower Pigmentation and Pollinator Attraction
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award, Perfect Score (5.00)
PJAS State Competition — First Award
Recipient of a PJAS Scholarship to the Penn State University College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Thomas Aldous
Project: Large Language Models for Autonomous Robot Navigation
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Third Prize Award
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award
PJAS State Competition — First Award

Daniella Babichenko
Project: Utilizing Biopolymer Scaffolds for Enhanced Drug Delivery
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award
PJAS State Competition — Second Award
Recipient of a PJAS Scholarship to the Penn State University College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Cecilia Paloma Passero
Project: Facilitating the Properties of Bromelain Enzymes to Enhance Burn Treatments
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award
PJAS State Competition — First Award

Noa Offner
Project: Investigating the Ionization of the Ring Nebula
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award
PJAS State Competition — First Award

Ruben Goldschmidt
Project: Effect of Screen Time on Academic Performance
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Third Prize Award
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award
PJAS State Competition — Second Award

Jordan Block
Project: Metal Organic Frameworks to Reduce Moisture Degradation in Perovskite Solar Cells
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor
PJAS Region 7 Competition — First Place Award

Anh Man
Project: Analyzing the Role of Design and Structure in Bridge Integrity
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor

Alberto Gildengers
Project: Aberrant Human Alpha-Defensin Expression and Liver Disease
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitor

Grace Zibert & Yuhan Deng
Project: Determining the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of Puromycin on E. coli
Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF) — Competitors

Families: Your last chance to purchase a yearbook is here. Follow the link below to purchase.

For those who have purchased books, distribution will be on Friday, June 5th for seniors and Monday, June 8th for grades 9-11.

ALLDERDICE HIGH SCHOOL PITTSBURGH, PA | Jostens Order your class yearbook, shop for your custom class ring, shop for your graduation needs, and show your pride with custom school apparel and gifts.

On Friday evening at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild Invitational Arts Exhibition, the following students were awarded a total of $12,475 in cash awards and two workshops. This show consisted of over 700 student submissions from 17 high schools. Nora Molyneaux, Vanay Benson, Danielle Arbely, Max Lisien, Cyrus Zabusky-Stockton, Nera Akiva, Emmaline Thompson, Violet Flatt, Victor Gasga, Tilly Quinlan, and Rowan Benton took different winning titles including first place in many categories. Nera Akiva won the overall first place award of the entire show! Wendy and I took pictures from the show below of some of the winning artworks to share with you. Hope you enjoy!

Good morning, Allderdice community.

I'm thrilled to share some exciting news as we close out a landmark spring season and the first year of Allderdice's partnership with Steel City Rowing Club, and I'd love your help spreading the news to the larger DIce and PPS community.

This past weekend, Steel City Rowing Club competed at the Midwest Junior Rowing Championship in Bethel, OH, going up against the top club rowers from across the country, Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis, and beyond, for a chance to qualify for the US Rowing Jr. National Championships in Florida. It was the culmination of a full year of hard work and dedication, and our athletes rose to the occasion.

Steel City Rowing Club sent 24 athletes, including three Dice students: Peter Hezel (’28), Carter Hutchinson (’28), and Liv Tobias (’29). The club had an outstanding showing, with 12 athletes taking home 16 medals across 6 events and earning multiple invitations to the National Championships. Allderdice sophomore, Peter Hezel, earned a silver medal as part of the Men's U17 4x and qualified for the US Rowing Jr. National Championships in Sarasota, Florida June 11-14.

While the merger at the beginning of the year marked the end of an era for Dice's longstanding crew team, this first year of the Allderdice & Steel City partnership has been a promising new beginning, and the future looks very bright!

Carrick Hockey tryouts are almost here
June 3 & 4
8 PM
Spencer Family YMCA
Make sure you register

Seniors❗️check this information out below

Attention SENIORS! Sign up today for a lawn sign. Show your Dragon pride 🐉🎲

https://forms.gle/X4cFutzo64EjzvDK7

*requested donation of $5 at pick up in April.

You go girls !

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]