Students from Carbon County schools write a weekly column about school activities. The column is coordinated by Sue Ann Gerhard of Carbon Career & Technical Institute.

Carbon Career & Technical Institute

Gracie Heintzelman

It’s almost the end of the school year and a lot is going on.

I would like to start off by congratulating Cosmetology Students who passed their PA State Board of Cosmetology license: Jada Saldukas, Fragile Colon, Carlos Lopez Rodriguez, Angelina Aurisano, Emma Hertweck, Alexa Martin, and Autumn Stepp.

There will be no school on May 27.

Senior Awards is Wednesday, May 22, in the school cafeteria at 6 p.m. If your senior will be receiving an award, you will receive a phone call with information regarding this event.

The senior class trip will be on Thursday, May 23, to Knoebel’s Amusement Park in Elysburg. We will depart CCTI at approximately 8:30 a.m. and return at approximately 7 p.m. Seniors attending the trip may drive to school that day. If your student comes in on the bus they must be picked up at CCTI at 7 p.m. Students will need money for lunch. Any senior not attending the class trip will be expected to be in school on that day or receive an unexcused absence.

CCTI Class of 2024 graduation will be held at the CCTI campus on Friday, May 31, at 5 p.m. Seniors MUST be at the CCTI bus entrance at 4 p.m. This is a rain-or-shine event. The event will be undercover. In the event of severe weather, there is a rain date set for Monday, June 3, same time and place. All guests must have a ticket to attend and all graduates will receive 6 tickets. If your student does not need all six tickets, please have them give extra tickets to a senior who may require more than 6 tickets. There are no additional tickets available.

All tickets will be distributed at graduation practice. Graduation practice is May 30, 8:30-11 a.m. Practice is mandatory for seniors to walk at graduation. This event will be livestreamed. You may view the ceremony by going to CCTI’s homepage and clicking on the link. The graduation ceremony is handicapped accessible. Any guest who is wheelchair-bound can be dropped off at the field. Any guest needing to be driven up to the field can take the shuttle. For further questions regarding accessibility to the field please call the main office at 570-325-3682.

Lehighton High School

Koy Wentz

Lehighton Area High School just held their academic scholarship ceremony for the Class of 2024. Roughly $300,000 was awarded to students. This program would not have been possible without the generous donations and support of many benefactors. Scholarships awarded will help the seniors with their postsecondary education.

Next, when the 2024-2025 school year rolls around, there will be a new class at the high school. An introduction to agriculture class will be open for the students to participate in.

This past week we held our prom spirit week. Monday was hat day, Tuesday was face paint day, Wednesday was neon day, and Thursday was future self day.

Additionally, on Thursday May 9, the spring band concert and art show will be held at the high school auditorium. The spring concert kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m. The concert will be held in the high school auditorium. In conjunction with this, the art department will be hosting their annual art show. All types of art to see and purchase will be available. Products from the agricultural club will also be available. Come on out to support all the accomplishments that these students make.

Finally, shout out to the LAHS Science Olympiad Team. They recently went to state competition in Altoona and performed very well. Chloe Gustafson and Allee Maini placed 10th in the Tower competition and 6th place in the Write it Do it competition. Robert Dwojewski and Cierra Berhel placed 7th in the Optics competition. Cj Strohl and Nick Gaumer placed 4th place in the Wind Power competition. Jackson Zacharias and Tyler Poole placed 3rd place in the Scrambler competition. Good job to all participants.

Jim Thorpe High School

Gabriella Cerra

First off all the activities and events Jim Thorpe has in store this week is during PODS Monday a Peer Buddy meeting. As a project with Peer Buddy and many student volunteers, there will be a Special Needs Fishing Derby on Thursday, May 9 and again on Friday, May 10.

In addition to the regular Peer Buddy Meeting, Monday, May 6 is the day of the FBLA Officer Election Speeches. Candidates who turned in their application forms as well as an essay explaining personal qualifications, experiences with FBLA, and other extracurricular experiences at Jim Thorpe will each be delivering a two-minute speech. This will be held in the auditorium during PODS, and all FBLA members are encouraged to attend and vote for officers in the positions of Jim Thorpe’s Chapter of FBLA President, Senior Vice President, Junior Vice President, Secretary, Historian, Treasurer, Reporter, Social Media Coordinator, website Coordinator, Fundraising Coordinator, and Community Service Coordinator. New officers will be announced at the End of the Year Banquet on Tuesday, May 21, starting at 5:30 p.m. The evening will commence with a potluck dinner and continue with awards to members with notable participation and achievements.

This week’s community service opportunities include a Thursday Penn Kidder Art Show and Science Fair and the Fishing Derbies.

Jim Thorpe’s History Club has shifted gears with the weekly meeting day, which is now once again Tuesday. History Club will be spending the next several meetings preparing to present a display, in coordination with the band, so they are looking for members to volunteer. The program will be about Memorial Day.

This past Thursday, May 2, the prosecution side of Jim Thorpe’s Mock Trial team competed against the defense from Palmerton at Law Day, held at the Carbon County Courthouse. 4 of the schools in Carbon County competed at Law Day. The purpose of the program was to supply the students interested in Mock Trial more information and experience with the legal system and trial proceedings. 12 students, three from each school, served as jurors and returned the inconclusive verdict of a hung jury. Now, Mock Trial has officially concluded courtroom activities of this year and will have a final meeting in the near future during which members will watch a different competition and celebrate their successes. Jim Thorpe’s prosecution side consisted of attorneys junior Kaylee Tate, sophomore Gretchen Cox, and sophomore Gabriella Cerra. The witnesses were sophomore KaylaAnn Kandy as lead investigator, Jayden Kobayashi; sophomore Alex Plesniarksi as local tavern owner, Sam Chestnut; and sophomore Ian Walck as food critic, Robin Lesco. The case was a matter of whether local rivalry between classic Italian pizza shop owner Addison Booker and new pizza shop owner Geoffrey Esper was intense enough to convict Booker of Esper’s murder.

This past Friday and Saturday, the theater club put on a performance of the Addams Family in the high school auditorium. They also performed on Thursday, for the middle school. These performances were the product of long hours of tedious work. Every cast and crew member should be acknowledged for their tremendous efforts.

The cast was Jon Duffy as Fester Addams, Ethan Ruch as Pugsley Addams, Chloe Tantala as Grandma Addams, Nicholas Germino as Lucas Beineke, Lila DeJessa as Mal Beineke, Kate Newstead as Alice Beineke, Devin Vasquez as Gomez Addams, Ada Finsel as Morticia Addams, El Smith as Wednesday Addams, and Kyle George as Lurch Addams.

Senior and junior prom will be on Friday, May 10. The Class of 2024 will also be taking their senior class trip to Knoebels this year.

For students who are Keystone testing, testing dates are Wednesday, May 15; Thursday, May 16; and Friday, May 17. Students who are not test taking will have Flexible Instruction Days. Any student of a 10th grade literature course must take the Literature Keystone on Wednesday. For any student enrolled in an Algebra I course or ES Math 11, taking the Keystone on Thursday. This also applies to any student of Biology or ES Science 11 for the Biology Keystone. These all include students who failed the respective Keystones in previous years. Passing each one is a graduation requirement. Passing scores fall into the categories of either proficient or advanced.

Final testing will take place soon after following Keystone testing. Each day of final testing will work on a three hour delay schedule, with two periods testing within the initial three hours of the day, followed by the regular schedule for shortened periods throughout the rest of the day.

The Spring Band & Choir concert will be on Thursday, May 16 at 7 p.m. Doors will open at 6:15 p.m. The price of tickets will be $5 for adults, $3 for students, and no charge for children ages 5 and under.

Jim Thorpe’s Olympian Spring sports is still quite active. Last Thursday, May 2 was the annual Olympian Invitational, during which many schools from the area came to Jim Thorpe to compete. This week’s Olympian sporting events include:

• Today at 4 p.m., Girls Softball Away vs. Tamaqua Area High School

• Tuesday, 4 p.m., Track & Field Leagues in Tamaqua

• Wednesday, 4 p.m., Track & Field Leagues in Tamaqua

• Wednesday, 4 p.m., Girls Softball Away vs. Pottsville Area

Palmerton High School

Mrs. K. Baumgardt’s Journalism Class

As of Monday, April 29, Girls softball had a record of 13-1. This week, they played Catasauqua, Northern Lehigh, and Northwestern Lehigh. Seniors Sydney Frantz and Megan Matsko recently achieved 100 career hits. In addition, senior Carly Gaffney recently broke the record for career hits when she reached 124 last week. On the JV side, congratulations to Alexia Gulla for her in the park grand slam.

The baseball team is looking forward to playing three games this week. Their current record is 4-12, as they lost a close game to the top team in the league, Salisbury. JV Baseball is 4-10 and played two more games this week.

Track is coming to an end Tuesday is the last meet and it is home. This Tuesday is the last day of the 2024 track season. Practices will only continue for people who have made it to Leagues and Districts and hopefully for people that go to states.

On Saturday, April 27, the Raising the House 5K took place. Volunteers from the high school, including the National Honor Society, helped to guide the runners and they worked at stands in the park. There was face painting by the Palmerton Art Club, Connect 4, inflatable ax throwing, ski ball, and food trucks. Compared to previous years, the run has become more inclusive for younger kids. All of the money that was raised will be donated to community programs.

There were several spirit days last week. On Wednesday May 1, Palmerton students wore green in support of mental health awareness, and wore black on Thursday for drunk driving awareness.

On Thursday, the chorus had a concert at Blue Mountain for the Concourse Club. They will be having their concert at the school on the May 16.

Palmerton Against Animal Cruelty members will be going on their field trip to a cat shelter on May 20. Members of NHS and the gifted program will be going on their field trip to the zoo on the 10th. On the 22nd the members of the winning envirothon team will be going to their state competition.