spring of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The Chamber Chorus received gold with honors distinction in spring of 2016 and 2017. In the spring of 2018, the Jazz Ensemble began to participate in NYSSMA Majors and received a silver rating. The Science Department follows the New York State Core Curriculum. All honors-level science courses cover additional topics which are not included in the core curriculum and go into greater depth with those topics which are included. All eighth grade students take Physical Setting: Earth Science, and take the regents as their final exam. As freshmen, students typically take Living Environment (Biology), then Physical Setting: Chemistry and Physical Setting: Physics are taken during sophomore and junior year respectively. Students interested in pursuing a career in science or medicine frequently take AP Biology or AP Environmental Science as a junior or senior. AP courses include AP Physics B, AP Environmental Science, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry. The latter has the reputation of being the hardest course offered at Pelham, and therefore is only given every other year. The Health Studies course is required to graduate and is normally offered to sophomores. However, this semester course may be taken at any point. The Science Research Department is a four-year elective program situated in the school's Biotechnology Laboratory. It allows students with a declared interest in science to conduct original research alongside of researchers at college, university, hospital, and medical school laboratories. The courses include Introduction to Science Research, which introduces students to the research experience with the basic skills necessary to conduct research experiments. Science Instrumentation and Problem Solving is the next course in the sequence. This teaches students how to adequately prepare reagents, perform sterilization exercises, run and maintain a biotechnology laboratory. Students also are instructed in various molecular biology techniques, such as DNA amplification via polymerase chain reaction, restriction enzyme analysis, and bacterial culture, identification, and transformation. In the summer before 11th grade, research students find a mentor to work with on an original research experiment. This is carried throughout most of the junior year with the students working on paper to present their findings. This is subsequently entered into the Siemens-Westinghouse and/or Intel Science Talent Search, as well as other science competitions. Students have previously been named semifinalists and region finalists, winning college scholarship money. Teacher Steven Beltecas has played a critical role in improving the school's performances at these