A group of Allentown Central Catholic High School students had the opportunity to participate in Notre Dame High School’s Mini-THON Feb. 17 and 18. Central raised almost $2,000 to contribute to the fight against childhood cancer, the mission of THON, the annual dance marathon at Penn State University. Mini-THON’s are a way for high school students to gain experience organizing and participating in such an event.

This Saturday, Feb. 25, is the regional competition for the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science. Students from Central and across the Lehigh Valley have been working for months on science projects and presentations they will present to a panel of judges in the hopes of advancing to the state competition at Penn State University Park.

PJAS is a unique opportunity for students to learn about researching, experimenting, analyzing and presenting a project they created on their own. Last year, 14 ACCHS students received scores high enough to advance to the PJAS state competition.

The Science Olympiad team traveled to the University of Pennsylvania Feb. 18 to participate in its third invitational competition this year. The students competed in more than 25 events ranging from building rubber-powered helicopters and electric powered cars to studying forensics and anatomy. The team is practicing for their regional competition March 16, where members hope to qualify for the annual state Science Olympiad at Juniata College in April.