Alumni News

Nominations are currently being accepted for NKASD Distinugished Alumni.  Anyone can submit for consideration the name(s) of Graduates from Arnold HS, New Kensington HS, and Valley (Jr-Sr) HS.

 

The Nomination for is available HERE.

 

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

 

Tom Pipkins jokes that he might already be retired from working if high school athletes could’ve signed endorsement deals back in his day. That’s how much interest there was around the former Valley basketball star when he broke the WPIAL career scoring record 30 years ago this month. As part of the hype, Pipkins recalled, he was asked to autograph souvenirs before the game, keepsakes for a record that still stands three decades later.

“They had me signing buttons that they were going to pass out or sell or whatever,” said Pipkins, with a laugh. “Nowadays, people make money off that.”

 

His scoring record likely will fall this winter, but Pipkins soon will own another piece of WPIAL history. The 1993 Valley graduate will be inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame this spring as part of the 2023 class.

The list of inductees was revealed Wednesday in a news conference at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum inside the Heinz History Center. The induction banquet is June 2 at the DoubleTree in Green Tree.

Also featured in the class of 13 people and two teams were former NFL players Jonathan Hayes of South Fayette and Greg Meisner of Valley, championship coaches Bill Cleary of Serra Catholic and Bill Palermo of Sto-Rox and broadcaster Don Rebel of TribLive HSSN.

 

Meisner, like Pipkins, went to high school in New Kensington. “There’s great pedigree there of players from my generation, my father’s generation, my grandfather’s generation,” said Meisner, a 1977 graduate who played 11 seasons in the NFL. “Growing up, all you heard about was these people and you wanted to be like them.”

Meisner was among the athletes who gathered Wednesday morning for the WPIAL’s announcement.

“I was very honored and very humbled,” he said. “Western Pennsylvania is full of great athletes in all facets. To be recognized with that group is a great honor.”

 

The other athletes selected were North Allegheny’s Ray Brinzer (wrestling), Bethel Park’s Emily Carter (swimming), Serra Catholic’s Laura Grimm (basketball) and Peters Township’s Sarah Riske McGlamery (tennis).

The late James “Lash” Nesser, a former boys basketball coach at Uniontown, was the heritage selection. Nesser won 680 games combined at St. John and Uniontown, where he also won a PIAA Class 3A title in 1981.

The teams picked for induction were the 2000-01 Oakland Catholic girls basketball team that went 31-1 and won WPIAL and PIAA Class 4A titles under coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, and the 1981-82 Monaca boys basketball team that went 28-1 and won the WPIAL Class A title with no player taller than 6-foot-2.

Softball umpire Bob Osleger, who worked numerous WPIAL and PIAA championships, was chosen for his work as a game official.

 

Seneca Valley senior Virginia Fronk, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma before the fall soccer season, will receive the WPIAL Courage Award. Fronk, a George Mason recruit, helped lead the Raiders to a 13-2-2 record and the WPIAL semifinals.

 

Rebel, who started his broadcasting career in 1988, has been a recognizable voice around WPIAL sports for decades. He also changed the way fans listen to games by helping to launch the online streaming site MSA Sports Network, which became TribLive HSSN in 2017.

 

This is the 16th class enshrined in the WPIAL Hall of Fame since its formation in 2007. Pipkins, who broke the WPIAL record with an alley-oop dunk Jan. 29, 1993, said he had wondered when his induction day might come.

A paraprofessional in the Quaker Valley School District, Pipkins lives in Beaver County with his wife Danielle and son, Thomas III, who is a sophomore on the Hopewell basketball team. His daughter, Jaqueline, 24, lives near Los Angeles.

 

Pipkins, who later played college basketball at Duquesne, graduated from Valley with 2,838 career points. The previous WPIAL record was set in 1955 by Wampum’s Don Hennon with 2,376 points.

Pipkins scored 29 points the night he broke Hennon’s record in a 97-63 win over South Park at home in New Kensington.

“People don’t know how nervous I used to be before those games,” Pipkins said. “I’m a real quiet type of person. I don’t like the attention. To be getting all of that attention was way overboard for me.” However, Pipkins’ record could soon fall. Aquinas Academy senior Vinnie Cugini, who on Tuesday pushed his career total to 2,659 points, is within 179 points of Pipkins’ total. 

 

Truthfully, Pipkins said, he is somewhat surprised it took this many years. “Definitely, because the game has changed over the years,” he said. “Even before Vincent Cugini came about, there were a lot of other people who were getting a lot of shots. Even the NBA and college games have changed. People are playing from the outside in and taking more 3-pointers than before.” How will Pipkins feel when his record does finally fall? He’s not sure.

“You can’t really react to something proactively,” he said. “You don’t know how you’re going to feel until you get there.”

 

Meisner was a multi-sport standout at Valley, where he starred in football, set javelin records in track and also wrestled and played basketball. He was picked for the Big 33 Football Classic in 1977. The former Pitt defensive lineman later played 11 NFL seasons. He also served as football coach at Hempfield for seven seasons and was athletic director from 2005 to 2020.

 

Brinzer earned three consecutive WPIAL and PIAA wrestling titles for North Allegheny from 1988-90, and he won 109 consecutive matches in those three years. He later wrestled at Iowa, where he was a two-time All-American in 1993 and ’95.

 

Carter led the Bethel Park swimming team to consecutive state titles in 1998 and ’99 while collecting seven WPIAL and five PIAA individual gold medals. She set two WPIAL meet records and one PIAA record before competing for Stanford.

 

Cleary was one of only four WPIAL girls basketball coaches to win more than 600 games. He finished 657-156 in his 34 seasons, winning 18 section titles, four WPIAL titles and one state championship in 2005. Serra Catholic reached the WPIAL finals 10 times.

 

Grimm went 103-12 in four seasons on the Serra Catholic girls basketball team and became the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,940 points. The Eagles reached the WPIAL finals all four seasons, winning two WPIAL titles and one state championship. She later played at Colgate.

Hayes was a football standout at South Fayette and was picked for Big 33 Football Classic in 1981. He later became an All-American tight end at Iowa and played 12 seasons in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

Palermo went 589-137 as Sto-Rox’s softball coach and never had a losing season in a 35-year career that included 10 WPIAL titles and one state championship. He’s the winningest coach in WPIAL softball history.

Riske McGlamery was one of the WPIAL’s all-time best girls tennis players, winning three WPIAL singles titles and adding consecutive state championships in 1997 and ’98. She later earned All-American honors at Vanderbilt and played professionally until 2006.

 

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

 

This week on The CEO.digital Show, we’re joined by Scott Ballina, Senior Director of Diversity, Belonging & Giving at Citrix. We discuss his career to date, including his long-term involvement with the U.S Navy, his decision to focus on diversity and inclusion, and the value of prioritising diversity as a catalyst for what he calls Productive Disruption.

 

Scott Ballina is the Senior Director of Diversity, Belonging, & Giving at Citrix. With almost 20 years of experience creating, implementing, and championing diversity and inclusion initiatives, Scott is also a Diversity Speaker and a volunteer Mentor and Coach at American Corporate Partners, and organization that helps veterans transition from the military into civilian careers.

 

Scott Ballina began his professional journey in the U.S Navy, and it was his travels in his capacity as a Navy serviceman that inspired his passion for diversity and inclusion. He took that passion to Deloitte and spent nearly 15 years working on groundbreaking inclusion initiatives and programmes. Now at Citrix, his ability as a diversity practitioner sees him act as a champion of diversity and inclusion for the business and their clients, driving change and delivering business growth on a day-to-day basis.

 

Through Scott’s wealth of experience, we discuss how diversity and inclusion can be addressed by businesses to diversify their offerings, reduce risk, provide a better quality of product and service, and deliver faster, better, and more affordably. We also dive into how diversity and inclusion affect culture, how the pandemic has affected business’s ability to attract diverse talent, and the many benefits of a multi-generational workforce.

 

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https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/burnin-love-wood-fired-pizza-at-gus-francos-of-lower-burrell-is-hot-item/

Orders at Gus Franco’s Pizza should be made in advance because the artisan pies are hot — real hot. Boasting a top-of-the-line, wood-fired pizza oven from Italy, Gus Franco’s sizzles dough with an air temperature reaching 900 degrees, which is more than 100 degrees higher than many commercial pizza ovens. The light and crispy pizzas that emerge from the blistering heat are the product of handmade dough that ferments for 48 hours, said Patrick Elston, who owns the Lower Burrell shop with his wife, Mandy. They opened in mid-October.

“Just one little dough ball turns into somebody’s happiness on a Friday night,” said Elston, 45, of New Kensington.

But residents looking for pizza happiness, especially on a Friday night, are wise to call starting at 3 p.m. to claim a pie. The pizzas are hot, in another sense of the word. They often sell out every night, Tuesday through Saturday.

The Elstons spend a good deal of time explaining why reservations are recommended at their takeout-only shop. The reason: Only so many artisan pizzas can be made in one day — eight pies every 20 minutes, to be exact. Each pizza bakes for 90 seconds to 2 minutes. The homemade dough recipe has evolved to allow a crispy exterior while not drying out. The specialty wood-fired oven with a stone bottom cooks the pizzas within inches of the wood fire, without a barrier.

Using special kiln-dried oak supplied by Vaughan’s Tree Service of Tarentum, the pies rise faster on the fireside of the oven, Elston said. He spins the pies in the oven for even baking. “It requires constant attention,” he said. “You’re dancing with the oven when you are cooking.”

 

Given the tight baking schedule and a finite amount of dough, the shop turns any leftovers into buns for meatball sandwiches and pepperoni rolls. The wood-fired oven caramelizes the homemade Italian meatballs, made with a blend of beef and pork.

At the end of the day, just about everything sells out, Elston said. “We don’t have a lot of waste,” he said. When the pizza shop makes fresh buns with leftover pizza dough, they alert their patrons on Facebook and Instagram.

The success of the Elstons’ craft pizza is not surprising. He began selling wood-fired pizzas, with a different oven, from a trailer four years ago. A frequent vendor at festivals and private events, he took that success to another level and looked for a building to buy. “We wanted to be a neighborhood pizza shop,” he said. “We like meeting the customers and just getting to know them, just like when we were on the road with the trailer.”

He settled in Lower Burrell because the former dentist’s office at the corner of Leechburg Road and Michigan Avenue fit their needs. Plus, the two parking lots make it easy for patrons.

Elston quit his job at Westmoreland County’s parks department last year to pursue his pizza adventure full time. He always wanted a small place like Andy’s Restaurant in New Kensington, which his grandfather Francis Datres owned until the mid-1990s. A black-and-white photo of Datres in a kitchen apron hangs in the waiting area of Gus Franco’s.

The Elstons named their pizzeria after their two sons. Francis (“Franco”) is 7 and August (“Gus”) is 4. Opening the Lower Burrell shop was part of a four-year plan the couple devised. “We had a small taste of success,” Elston said. “People enjoyed what we were creating and we just grew from there.” He credits his family and staff for making it happen: Elston gave a shoutout to his aunt Nancy Alfera of Arnold; sister Sarah Yurga, who is a new member of the New Kensington-Arnold school board; and neighborhood kids Nick Sofaly and Karly Wass of Lower Burrell.

Gus Franco’s is open from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The phone line, 724-212-3758,  opens at 3 p.m. for reservations.

People can still stop in for a pizza without calling, Elston said, but they run the risk of waiting a little longer based on the volume of other reservations — or hearing, “Sorry, we’re sold out for the evening.”

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary at 724-226-4691, [email protected] 

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/new-ken-native-shares-inclusive-love-of-dance-at-starlight-studio-of-dance/

Brittany Dilliott was 6 years old when she discovered her love of dance while watching musicals such as “Annie,” “Oklahoma!” and “The King and I.” “They looked like they were floating. It looked like magic,” she said. “I was sucked in. I never looked back.” But when she started taking dance classes as a child, the studios were focused on competition. “I found I didn’t love competition,” she said. “I just loved to dance.”  That’s why Dilliott’s dance studio, Starlight Studio of Dance, isn’t about competition. “I just want them to dance and move and have a safe place to go to,” she said. Dilliott, 25, opened Starlight last August. It’s in the basement of the New Kensington Arts Center at 950 Fifth Ave.

Born and raised in New Kensington, Dilliott is a 2015 Valley High School graduate. She studied musical theater and dance at Seton Hill University, where she graduated in December 2019. Like every theater kid, Dilliott’s dream was to go to Broadway. She did, not as a performer, but as a Make-A-Wish recipient in 2014 — she was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 when tumors were found in her arm. “That influenced my life outlook a lot,” she said. “It made me realize how finite our lives are. We don’t have as much time as we think we do. “I’m going to make it in the arts somehow,” she said. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life in the arts.”

Dilliott said she realized she cared about more than just performing. “I decided that I like kids, and I want to share the arts,” she said. “I like kids and I like their energy and what they can bring to the table. They’re really creative. Giving them the tools to thrive is really rewarding.”

Dilliott was still working as a preschool teacher assistant in Jeanette for the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit when she decided last April to launch her business. “I got tired of waiting for the right timing,” she said. “Was it the best idea to start it in the middle of a pandemic? Probably not. But we’ve been making it. I consider that a win.”

After seeing Fifth Avenue begin to change, New Kensington was where she wanted it to be. “I grew up looking at all these empty buildings. I never knew New Kensington in its heyday,” she said. “I see people walking around town, coffee shops, activity, it’s so good for the community, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Dilliott said Starlight is open to children and adults of all ages, heights, and body types. “I’ll take anyone who wants to dance,” she said. “If you want to dance, you can here.”

For children, she offers ballet and jazz dancing. For the very young, movement is the focus. For adults, classes cover ballet, flexibility and core strengthening. Classes cost $17 per hour.

Dilliott runs the studio with help from her mother, Carol. Currently offering classes Wednesdays and Thursdays, Dilliott hopes to expand to five days a week and bring on other instructors. “I’ve struggled a little bit,” she said. “With every stumble, I’ve learned something.”

Dilliott took business courses while at Seton Hill but didn’t complete enough for a minor. She feels the weight of the responsibility that comes with being a business owner. She says it will be a slow crawl to get Starlight where she wants it to be, but she’s patient. “Even if I help one kid realize that there’s a lot more out there than what we think, that they’re capable of so much more, that’s important,” she said. “It makes it all worth it. I had a lot of really great examples to look up

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701or [email protected].

Monica Monroe, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s first Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion, has accepted a position as Dean of the Office of Community Engagement, Equity, and Belonging (CEEB) at Harvard Law School (HLS).

 

Monroe has played an integral role in the Law School’s Office of Equity & Inclusion (E&I) since its inception in 2019. During Monroe’s tenure the Office has focused on establishing mechanisms to connect and collaborate with the many stakeholders in the Law School’s community, developing educational programs that examine substantive issues of equity and justice, as well as training programs focused on the skills needed to overcome bias and advance inclusion. The Office has also offered focused support to those historically underrepresented in the law and legal profession.

 

As Associate Dean of E&I, Monroe worked to cultivate several programs aimed toward building a safe and collegial environment for all law students. During her time in the position, she established the Office’s student advisory board, developed relationships and supported programs for Law School affinity groups, counseled student groups that sought guidance and training on issues of equity and inclusion, and organized collaborative networks across peer schools, the Law School, and the University.

 

“Monica has been an invaluable thought partner as we grew this office from the ground up,” said Rivera Finkelstein. “She intuitively understood the need to build community around our efforts and spearheaded a coalition of peers across our University and across our peer law schools. Her collaborative instincts will ensure an ongoing partnership even, or especially, as she embarks on her new role at Harvard. I am thrilled for Monica and excited about the chance to expand our collective DEI work well beyond the work of any one institution.”

 

Kalpana Kotagal L’05, Co-Chair of the E&I’s Alumni Advisory Board, echoed Rivera Finkelstein’s praise for Monroe’s outstanding contributions and dedication. “I have loved working with Monica as we’ve built the Alumni Advisory Board on Equity and Inclusion,” said Kotagal. “Her commitment to supporting students from under-represented backgrounds and advancing the Law School’s commitment to meaningful equity, inclusivity, and accessibility is deep.”

 

Prior to her role in E&I, Monroe served as the Law School’s Dean of Students, where she prioritized caring for students’ mental health.

 

“Recognizing the importance and impact of good mental health in law school and every stage of life, I worked with Law School and University administrators to bring a CAPS embedded counselor to the Law School to create greater access to these services,” Monroe said. “I consider this one of my greatest accomplishments during my time as Dean of Students.”

 

Monroe’s commitment and enthusiasm will be greatly missed by the entire Law School community.

 

“Monica has been a vital part of the spirit and soul of the Law School since the day she arrived,” said Wolff. “Her singular capacity for intuition about people in a community, the maturity of her judgment, the care and empathy she brings to all she does; in a word, she is indispensable. Harvard is both wise and lucky to have stolen her away from us.”

 

Monroe will assume her new position at HLS on February 22.

 

“It is my sincere hope that the CEEB team and I will continue to support all members of the HLS community and together celebrate and embrace difference in a constructive and impactful way,” Monroe said. “The goal is for all of us to feel that we belong at HLS while affording one another grace and an equal opportunity to engage in the full vibrancy of the institution while embracing our authentic selves.”

 

On a personal note, Monroe, who earned her undergraduate degree from Boston University, is eager to return to New England.

 

“This period at Penn has been one of the most enlightening seasons of my life,” Monroe said. “While not without disappointment and discomfort, my time here has offered me my most significant growth and necessary knowledge for this next journey. It has been my honor to partner with, learn, and serve students at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School in this vital work. For that, I am eternally grateful.”

 

Monroe also holds a JD from George Washington Law. After clerking for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, she spent six years with a private practice in Washington, D.C., practicing real estate, housing, employment, and commercial law. In 2004, Monroe returned to GW Law to teach Legal Research and Writing, ultimately also serving as the school’s Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Associate Dean. Monroe joined the Law School in 2016 as Dean of Students, a position she held for three years until becoming the Associate Dean of E&I.

Tawnya Panizzi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tawnya at 724-226-7726, [email protected] 

 

The first novel from the New Ken native, E.B. Andrews (Erik Beck), is now available for presale on Amazon! Kylee Danko (KyleeRose Art) designed the cover. Paperback copies and an audiobook will be available Saturday, January 29^th. Please help support them by enjoying the book for yourself or sharing it with anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, or A Wrinkle in Time.

 

Follow the link to preorder!

https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Human-B-Andrews-ebook/dp/B09QVD7S4S/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39VC6NTYFVFLU&keywords=creating+human+by+EB+andrews&qid=1643044282&sprefix=creating+human+by+eb+andrews%2Caps%2C62&sr=8-1 

 

Description - "From the Windlebees perched in the window displays, to the Tamblers winding across the carts of street peddlers, the town of Shinar is full of strange and mysterious oddities, but none so great as the cursed black bag of Leonard Bravecci. Well - that is of course with the exception of the man himself. No one knows how Leonard made his way back into town, or why he would ever dare to return, but one thing is certain; life in Shinar has only gotten worse since he came around. When he reappears after almost sixteen years in exile, everyone turns him away. Everyone except for Pooka. A con artist down on his luck, Pooka is desperately looking for a way to make some extra money... and flee town. Whether or not Leonard is cursed, the boy knows an opportunity when he sees one. Cursed, however, is an understatement. From selling elixirs at Estacion de Commercio to a prison cell in Katorga, nothing goes as either of them planned. Such is life in Shinar. But maybe life can change for an outcast and a swindler, assuming they can do the impossible; cure the plague and save the city that despises them."