On Nov. 14, Fox Chapel High School students Blake Krushinski and Brady Matthews signed national letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level.

Matthews signed with Seton Hill University to play Division II Lacrosse. He is a two-sport varsity athlete at Fox Chapel High School. As the starting varsity goalkeeper for the FC soccer team and one of the team captains, he helped lead the Foxes to back-to-back WPIAL titles, with the most recent championship secured on Oct. 31 at Highmark Stadium. However, his true passion lies on the lacrosse field. He is a two-way midfielder for both the Iron City Lacrosse Club and the FC lacrosse team, who went 10-5 in their last season. The Foxes look to build upon that success this spring, with Matthews expected to be a key contributor following his recognition as the 2025 Fox Chapel Offensive Player of the Year.

Krushinski signed with West Virginia University baseball as a right-handed pitcher. He is receiving a full scholarship to the Division I program. Krushinski verbally committed to the Mountaineers in August of his junior year. He had a successful summer and fall travel season, earning the rank as the Top 200 player across the nation and the number fourth-ranked player in Pennsylvania. He recently performed in front of MLB and collegiate scouts at the Perfect Game WWBA Worlds in Jupiter, Fla., topping his fastball at 95 mph, garnering the interest from a number of MLB scouts. He will be returning to the mound for the Foxes this spring as one of the starting pitchers, as he looks to lead the team into the playoffs.

A Fox Chapel Area High School student won an award at the 45th Annual University of Virginia Model UN Conference. Senior Ori Goldin was awarded a Verbal Commendation (equivalent to fourth place).

Nearly 950 students from 61 public, private, and charter schools from 10 states participated in the conference, held Nov. 14-16 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

The purpose of the Model UN conferences is to enable students to role-play and simulate the countries in the United Nations. As part of the conferences, students debate and try to solve global problems from the perspectives of other countries.

Seven Fox Chapel Area High School students placed at the annual M&M Lake Erie Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament. The debate teams of senior Joanna Li and junior Emmanuella Ulasi and juniors Elaine Huang and Lydia Humes won second place in the Team Sweepstakes for Debate for their combined records in Parliamentary Debate. The team of sophomores Paulomi Goel and Ottilie Happold won second place in Duo Interpretation. Sophomore Abigail Vaughan won fifth place in Student Congress.

The tournament, sponsored by Mercyhurst Preparatory School and McDowell High School, was held Nov. 8, on the campus of Penn State Behrend in Erie. A total of 124 students from eight public and private high schools from Western Pennsylvania participated in the event.

Five Fox Chapel Area High School students were selected by audition to perform with the 2025 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 1 Honors Band. The students are seniors Jack Murray-Krezan (percussion) and Joshua Shah (flute); juniors Nadre Digbohou (clarinet) and Rachel Kim (clarinet); and freshman Celestial Hou (flute). The band was comprised of 120 of the best student-musicians from Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

The PMEA District 1 Honors Band concert was held Nov. 23 at North Hills Middle School and was conducted by Dr. Andrew Boysen Jr., professor of music and the University of New Hampshire.