Lehighton Area High School honored its best academic students Wednesday night at its 30th annual Top 10 percent banquet held at Franklin Township Fire Company.

Guest speaker Neil Makhija, the Democratic candidate for state representative in the 122nd House District, told students while he once disliked the phrase "nobody can take your education away from you," he now knows it to be true.Before settling in Jim Thorpe as an attorney, Makhija worked for Vice President Joe Biden and then as a staffer in the U.S. Senate."Everything I've learned I can pin back to my education," Makhija, a Lehighton native, said. "You'll use what you've learned for the rest of your life in every context."His father immigrated from India at a young age working in a thread factory and went on to become a doctor who has served the community for over 35 years."He made sacrifices to get my family here and because of it, I've had opportunities not available in India," Makhija said. "When we succeed, it's almost always the result of a group or community effort and sometimes we take that for granted. In turn, always think about how you can better your community."Students from the Class of 2016 who earned Top 10 Percent honors are Daniel Baka, Jacob Hoffner, Joshua Knappenberger, Tegan Durishin, Zachary Christoff, Wyatt Clements, Parker Fairchild, Caleb Carpenter, Brody Hydro, Megan Nanovic, Sara Martz, Alyssa Jordan, Andrea Schafer, Cammi Nalesnik and Tanner Zwetolitz.Class of 2017 honorees are Grant Wetzel, Shawn Rutcosky, Ryan Moerder, Matthew Eckhart, Andrew Ebbert, Tyler Dietz. MaryGrace Collins, Elise Johnston, Courtney Rehrig, Morgan Yurasits, McKenna Knappenberger, Tia Brownmiller, Julia Banning and Kaitlin Higgins.Class of 2018 honorees are Alexander Karpowicz, Michael Bongiorno, Caine Carpenter, Dane Frantz, Anthony Tavella, Brandon Schnell, Mary Grace Wilhelm, Lindsey Bowman, Piper DeMatte, Thera Hibbler, Julia Frey, Rachel Serfass, Emily Haberman, Lily Fasching and Maura Phelan.Lehighton Area High School Principal Craig Reichl and Assistant Principal Jennifer Evans handed out the awards, while describing the student achievements."These students are all very well-rounded," Reichl said of the night's honorees. "What impresses me so much about them is they don't just excel academically, they're focused on the whole person."