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Education

November 3, 2025

Guests can tour BC3 @ Lawrence during open house Nov. 5, apply free

(New Castle, PA) BC3 @ Lawrence is “a welcoming school,” said Gina Shearer, who selected Butler County Community College’s new location in Shenango Township to begin her pursuit of a nursing career. “Everybody is there for you and to help you,” said the first-semester health care science student and 2025 graduate of New Castle Senior High School. The 18-year-old New Castle resident visited BC3 @ Lawrence for the first time just before it opened Aug. 25 in Shenango Commons. “I just walked in,” she said, “and I was greeted. That was really nice. I was shown around the building and…

October 31, 2025

2020 LHS Graduate & Ellwood City Resident With 4.0 GPA Receives $1,500 Scholarship

(Butler, PA) The academic achievements of a 24-year-old Ellwood City resident and Butler County Community College student with a 4.0 grade-point average have been recognized with a $1,500 scholarship from the Pennsylvania Certified Public Accountant Foundation, Philadelphia. Sierra Strickler, a BC3 business administration student who intends to become a certified public accountant, is one of 91 recipients nationwide of financial awards from the nonprofit organization associated with the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs. The foundation states that its mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in accounting and to provide educational, motivational and financial support to those working to attain…

October 16, 2025

A Century In A Box: Ellwood City Area School District Uncovers a 100-Year-Old Time Capsule

Renovation projects typically bring a little dust, a lot of work, and interesting discoveries among the layers. What started as a routine renovation of Ellwood City’s Lincoln High school, turned into a remarkable connection to the past. School Librarian Heidi Feltrop recounted the moment this quest to unveil a cornerstone to find a time capsule from 1925 began. She said in May a biology teacher was boxing up things in her classroom to accommodate the current construction at Lincoln High School and stumbled upon a dictionary that belonged to a teacher in 1930. Feltrop said this sparked a curiosity within…

October 15, 2025

ECASD Planning For Normal School Day Following Planned Borough Power Outage On Sunday

In a statement released by the Ellwood City Area School District, the schools will plan for a normal day of school on Monday, October 20th – the day following the planned borough power outage. The following statement was made available on the district’s website: We have been working to prepare our facilities, food services, and technology systems for the Ellwood Borough power outage on October 19. Our goal is to ensure everything is ready so we can resume normal operations on Monday, October 20. We will have staff on campus this weekend to check all systems and ensure that our…

October 10, 2025

ECASD Board of Directors Appoint Financial Professionals to Evaluate Funding for Renovation Project

The Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors voted unanimously on Monday night to approve a resolution to appoint professionals to assist in the evaluation of financing for a proposed district renovation project including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical improvements to North Side Primary School and Hartman Intermediate School. The resolution appoints the firm of PNC Capital Markets, LLC (the “Investment Banker”) as managing underwriter and the firm of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP (the “Bond Counsel”) as bond counsel to advise and assist the School District regarding the consideration, authorization, issuance and sale of the Bonds, in one or more…

September 25, 2025

Hartman Intermediate Honored As A PA Blue Ribbon School

The Ellwood City Area School District is honored and excited to share truly wonderful news: Hartman Intermediate School has been recognized as a 2025 Pennsylvania Blue Ribbon School by the Pennsylvania Department of Education! This achievement reflects the dedication and collaboration of our entire community. Hartman is one of only thirteen schools across the Commonwealth selected for this distinction. Hartman was selected for closing achievement gaps. “I am incredibly proud of our students, staff, and community for earning this Blue Ribbon recognition. Coming out of the challenges of COVID, we came together with resilience and determination to support one another…

September 22, 2025

Lincoln High Grad Covert Shoots 82; BC3 Men’s Golf Team Now 5-2

Mitchell Covert, a graduate of Lincoln High School in Ellwood City, tied for fourth among the Pioneers’ lowest scores with an 82 to help BC3 defeat Westmoreland County Community College 311-321 and the Community College of Allegheny County 311-349 at Lake Arthur Golf Club near Butler on Friday. Jaxon Salata fired a career-low 73 as a Butler County Community College golfer and finished as medalist for the first time, and teammate Parker Worsley placed second overall with a 76 as the Pioneers’ men’s team moved to 5-2 with victories last week. The four lowest scores of golfers on each squad…

September 12, 2025

PennDOT Invites Pennsylvania High School Students to Join the Ninth Annual ‘Innovations Challenge’

Harrisburg– This week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) invited high school students throughout the state to participate in this year’s PennDOT Innovations Challenge, which encourages students to use their problem-solving, creative and strategic-thinking abilities to solve real-world transportation challenges in a competition among their peers. The Innovations Challenge is open to all students in grades 9-12, regardless of their school’s learning model. For this year’s challenge, students are asked to develop a concept for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in work zones to dramatically improve safety for work crews and road users. The concept must outline how PennDOT…

September 11, 2025

ECASD Board of Directors Vote to Retain Architectural Firm in Consideration of North Side and Hartman Construction Projects

Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors voted Thursday night to retain HHSDR to design projects relating to the North Side and Hartman Facility Studies (View a copy of the study here), create bid documents, and seek bids for the projects including alternative bids with options for the project’s scope. The projects, according to the study, come with a probable cost of approximately $9.9 million. Board members Norman Boots and Kevin Boariu voted “No” citing concerns of cost as well as current construction projects already underway. Boariu said the board needs to have extensive discussion before moving forward with…

September 11, 2025

CCBC Increases Access To Cyber Careers With National Science Grant

Monaca, PA – Community College of Beaver County has received a $473,491 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant from the Natonal Science Foundation, the U.S. government’s independent science agency. The three-year grant will fund the college’s ACCESS: Creating Pathways to Advance Cybersecurity Career Education for STEM Success program to strengthen and expand STEM programs and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. CCBC was one of 12 community colleges accepted to the FORCEE-ATE mentoring workshop in June of 2024 to pursue an ATE grant to create more accessibility to diverse educational pathways in cybersecurity for students from high school to the…