• Dec. 22, 2017

    Students support classmate as recovery continues

    Rita Beauchamp and SHOP@USC representatives On behalf of SHOP@USC, student representatives presented Upper St. Clair High School senior Rita Beauchamp with a gift of $700 to further assist with her recovery expenses.

    Rita was seriously injured in an automobile accident on the first day of school, Aug. 29, 2017. After a lengthy hospital stay, she continues to recover at home with her family, including her beloved dog Bronco, and is completing her coursework online in order to graduate this spring with her classmates.

    SHOP@USC raised $530 from the sale of specially designed #WakeUpRita t-shirts, bracelets and rally towels. In addition, Fort Couch Middle School contributed $170 through a “casual day” fundraiser.

    SHOP@USC is a pioneering, student-run business, which operates fully through the collaboration between students with significant disabilities and their same age peers without disabilities. Within SHOP, students produce and sell greeting cards, business cards, signs/banners, laser-engraved items and USC spirit wear merchandise.

    SHOP is an acronym for Showing How Opportunity Pays. Established in the 2014-15 school year, the program currently serves 43 students – 17 of whom are part of the school’s Life Skills Support program with various special needs and abilities. In March 2017, the program was selected as one of three national Grand Prize Winners in the 23rd annual Magna Awards program sponsored by the National School Boards Association’s magazine, American School Board Journal.