BASD Students and Staff Recognized for Honors

Several students, staff and a school were all recognized for outstanding achievements at the Bethlehem Area School Board's general meeting at Freedom High School Monday evening.

Three of four Semifinalists from the BASD in the National Merit Scholarship competition have advanced to Finalist standing, the administration announced.

In the running for the National Merit Scholar title, from Freedom is Therese Nelson, and from Liberty High School are Vrinda Jagota and Benjamin Kraft.

The administration congratulated them on the achievement, attained by less than 1 percent of students, and wished them the best of luck in pursuit of the national title.

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Freedom High School senior Timothy Cassidy has been selected for the President's Volunteer Service Award through the 2011 Prudential Spirit of Community Award.

The award is given to citizens, regardless of age, who have volunteered significant amounts of time to serve their community. Cassidy has given more than 1,800 hours of his time to the Civil Air Patrol Composite Squad 904 and Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley, as well as other worthy organizations, the administration said.

A certificate and a letter from President Barack Obama was presented to Cassidy in March by Freedom Principal Michael LaPorta.

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High school student journalist Mike Vitoroulis, a senior at Freedom High School, was congratulated by the administration for having been recently awarded a first place award for his entry in the Fashion Week category at the 2011 Student Keystone Press Awards.

Sponsored through the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, Vitoroulis was honored at a luncheon in Hershey on March 16, it was noted. The awards are given for excellence in high school newspaper reporting.

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Two Freedom High School students' essays were chosen for honorable mentions out of more than 24,000 entries in the Bill of Rights Institute “Being an American” essay contest.

Junior Grace Mao, and Anna Thomas, a sophomore, also received monetary awards for their essays on the subject of the greatest civil values in America, the school administration said.

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Regional winner of the Allentown Art Museum's “Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest” Aidan Gilrain-McKenna, has placed second at the state level, held in Harrisburg on March 14.

A junior at Liberty High School, Gilrain-McKenna competed with students from eight schools to win at the regional level, the school district noted, congratulating him for his “outstanding accomplishment.”

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Thomas Jefferson Elementary School kindergarten teacher Kyle Craven is one of 76 teachers nationwide to be selected to participate in the Apple Distinguished Educator Program, Class of 2011.

Craven will travel to Phoenix, Arizona this summer, and will work with leaders in Apple technology at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, representing the BASD, the administration said.

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Liberty High School science teacher Melissa Maioriello received the Superior Technology Achievement Recognition (STAR) Award, the school district administration has announced.

In addition, Liberty High School language arts teacher, Holly Erdman and Kyle Craven were named finalists for the award, which encourages the integration of technology in the classroom and emphasizes 21st century teaching skills in the classroom.

Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, who sponsors the award, held a banquet near the end of March.