Josh Malaki publishes first novel

Josh Malacki, CV Class of 2004, will have his first published novel released on April 24, 2018. Josh is a co-author of a middle school level book titled Detours and Designs. Learn more at detoursanddesigns.com.

2010 Grad takes on mission to provide free medical care and therapy in Ecuador

First year medical student Tyler Wilps humanitarian efforts are profiled in the March 9th edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Roody D'Agaro makes mark for Westminster swim team.

Joe Caruso III, Class of 2009, named Government Affairs Council at American Retirement Association

Joseph A. Caruso, III, JD, MSPPM, recently accepted a position as Government Affairs Counsel at the American Retirement Association (“ARA”) in Arlington, VA. Joe will be responsible for federal and state lobbying through meetings with public officials, draft legislation, comments on proposed rules, hearing testimony, PAC campaign contributions and more. The American Retirement Association represents over 20,000 members and is comprised of five premier retirement industry associations: the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), the ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries (ACOPA), the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA), Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) and the National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA).



Prior to accepting his new role, Joe served as an Industry Affairs Associate with the Institutional Limited Partners Association (“ILPA”) in Washington, D.C. where he supported ILPA’s advocacy efforts to advance best practices and policies in the private equity industry. ILPA’s membership includes close to 450 institutions and 4,000 individual professionals representing over 40 countries and more than US$1 trillion of private equity assets under management – half of the total global institutional private equity assets under management (“AUM”). ILPA members represent all investor categories of small and large institutions including public pensions, corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices, insurance and investment companies, development financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds.



Joseph holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from The H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Allegheny College and graduated from Chartiers Valley High School in 2009. In high school, Joe was a National Honor Society inductee, Class of 2009’s “Rising Star” in Social Studies and AP Scholar with Honor. As a Colt, Joe captained the varsity soccer team to a section title garnering All-WPIAL, All-Section, Post-Gazette West All-Star and The Almanac Elite 11 (HM) recognition en route.

CV Alumnus Ryan Quinn wins 2nd Emmy Award

Chartiers Valley 2006 alumnus, Ryan Quinn, just added another Emmy Award to his resume of video production and editing accomplishments. 

The 2017 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards were presented on September 9, 2017, when Ryan was announced as winner of the prestigious award and professional recognition.  At the ceremony in Hershey, Pennsylvania, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored Ryan with the distinguished Emmy Award for his outstanding work as the video editor for the NBC/WPXI 5PM Newscast Evening programming for larger markets. 

Ryan was responsible for electronic news gathering (ENG) and complete video editing of multiple featured stories – including sports edits and promotional spots of the Steelers, Pirates, and the Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins.  Ryan created numerous pump-up videos for the 2017 Penguin Stanley Cup playoff games premiering during pre-game broadcasts on NBC/WPXI, receiving network recognition and accolades from live broadcast professionals.

In addition to winning Emmy Awards in 2015 and 2017, Ryan is also a three-time Emmy nominee in 2015 and 2016 for broadcast video editing in larger markets and spot news categories.  His 2015 video for the Football Hall of Fame Induction of Steeler Jerome Bettis also received NBC/WPXI broadcast accolades during the live pre-induction ceremony broadcast.

Ryan is a 2006 graduate of Chartiers Valley and 2010 graduate of Penn State, University Park.  He was the Student Marshal in Film/Video at Penn State, where he wrote and directed films that received national recognition and awards.

CV Alum Pursues Legal Career

Joe Caruso, Chartiers Valley Class of 2009, recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law with a Juris Doctor and Carnegie Mellon University’s H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy with a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management.

As Joe prepares for the Pennsylvania Bar exam, he is also exploring career options that would allow him to serve as an investor advocate and help combat financial crime.

Joe’s journey began when he was in High School at Chartiers Valley, where he was a member of the National Honor Society and President of the Spanish Club. He really enjoyed watching law and order episodes with his father who is a retired police Sergeant. In addition, he was also very interested in the courses he took in high school that related to domestic politics.

“While I was the beneficiary of many great teachers at CV, I would say that I fed off of Mr. Robert Rodrigues’ passion for American politics,” said Joe. “Having the opportunity to be instructed by a college professor while in high school was invaluable and I still hold on to lessons from his class like using ‘direction of evidence (DOE)’ in my writing.”

Joe also noted that many of his Chartiers Valley teachers challenged him to further refine his writing and critical thinking skills, which has helped him achieve success in his academic accomplishments since high school.

In addition to taking rigorous courses throughout his high school career, Joe challenged himself on the soccer field.

“Many of my favorite memories came on the pitch,” said Joe. “Even now, there is still a smell in the air come soccer season that triggers memories to flood back.”

The varsity soccer team won the section title during Joe’s senior year. In addition to serving as the team’s captain, Joe was named All-Section, All-WPIAL, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette West All-Star and the Almanac Elite Eleven honorable mention.

“While playing in college is special in its own right, there is something unique about winning with the kids you grew up with while representing the area that you’re from against often familiar foes.”
Joe continued his academic and athletic career at Allegheny College, where he majored in political science with a minor in English. While at Allegheny College, Joe served a term as a senator with ASG and was selected to sit on the academic honor committee. In addition, he played soccer and was an NSCAA Scholar All-Region selection.

Following his graduation from Allegheny College, Joe moved on to the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. As a certified legal intern with Pitt law’s securities arbitration clinic, Joe secured the largest settlement in clinic history.

At CMU, Joe and several of his fellow students worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Health under the oversight of RAND Corp. to develop a data-driven strategy to expand first responder access to Heroin antidote naloxone. Governor Tom Wolf recently acknowledged his efforts. In addition, Joe was recently mentioned in the May 2017 issue of Whirl magazine (page 15) for an event he organized as the Heinz Finance Club President.

Computer Science: Unplugged

Chartiers Valley alumnus, Bryan Gallo, recently returned to his alma mater to give third and fourth grade students a lesson in computer science, sans computers.

After graduating from Chartiers Valley High School in 2013, Bryan went to Westminster College where he is currently a senior majoring in Computer Science.

As his capstone project, Bryan is researching two different methods of teaching computer science activities to elementary students. One method was to let a class start an activity with only a brief introduction to it, while the other method provided students with a detailed lecture about the activity before allowing them to actually try it.

Bryan tested his methods with Mr. Quinn’s third grade class and Mrs. Kantner’s fourth grade class at CVIS.

“I was thrilled to have my capstone project at Chartiers Valley, but before I got to the class, I didn’t know what to expect from the current elementary students,” said Bryan. “The students I had in Mr. Quinn and Mrs. Kantner’s classes had such a great academic attitude. They were attentive, perceptive, and genuinely cared about the lessons.”

The Association for Computing Machinery has a list of academic goals for students from K-12, so Bryan selected activities from “Computer Science Unplugged” to meet some of the goals.

“These activities are designed to introduce computer science concepts to young students without the use of a computer,” explained Bryan.

Over the course of three days, Bryan introduced and modeled the binary number system, as well as several algorithms used for searching and sorting data in computers.

Next he introduced the linear method for sorting large quantities of data, which students found to be pretty slow. Bryan also modeled the hashing method, where students sorted data based on a code or equation. Students got to play a battleship game simulation to demonstrate the hashing method, which they found to be quicker and more efficient than the linear method. Bryan related that method to how computers have advanced to process information faster and more efficiently.

Finally, Bryan worked with students to consider data sorting methods. Students used balance scales and small weighted canisters. Students worked in small groups to systematically sort the canisters based on weight, and noted the number of operations it required to sort the canisters from lightest to heaviest.

While Bryan selected specific activities to help students meet the goals outlined by the Association of Computing Machinery, his ultimate goal was to capture their interest.

“I hope students gained interested, and were more curious about computer science [after my lessons],” said Bryan.

“Our students had a unique opportunity to use abstract and critical thinking,” said Mr. Quinn. “We were happy to have the chance to learn new strategies to figure out a variety of conditions.”

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