After two months of sunshine and trips to the shore, summer has come to an end for Lehigh Valley Academy students who started school Aug. 22. Only a month into the school year and students are already heavily involved in clubs. One of the biggest projects that took place this year for LVA’s bullying prevention club, Aevidum, was the new student breakfast. The club sponsored and hosted the breakfast to welcome new students into the LVA community in a friendly and engaging atmosphere. The students had the opportunity to meet fellow new students and introduce themselves to guidance counselors, Quanesha Johnson and Kimberly Della Rosa. While Aevidum consists of only 10 students, Yardley Plasencia, Shivraj Kaur, Kiara Stevens, Fernanda Cuadro, Ethan Francisco, Emery Elton, Daniel Villalona Hidalgo, Celeste Nunez, Ashley Brown and Rana Moawad, the club has played a crucial role in helping raise awareness of bullying and suicide prevention throughout the school.

Aevidum, along with LVA’s SAGA (gender and acceptance club), with the help of Elizabeth Wingerter, will help plan Bullying Prevention Day Oct. 25. With only a month into the year, SAGA is preparing for the busy year to come. Some of the activities they are planning include Spreading Kindness – No Name-Calling Week – and Day of Silence. While the club has only been around for a few years, it has made a tremendous impact on the LVA community in ensuring that all students feel welcomed.

With homecoming right around the corner, LVA’s student council is busy planning for the school event. With the help of Cori Kline, student council is sure to pull off one of the biggest events thus far. It has been an exciting week for LVA students who had the opportunity to choose what the theme for homecoming would be this year, which is “A Night in Paris.” After speaking with student council president Xavier Lopez, it appears that student council has a lot on its hands as it gets ready for LVA’s most beloved tradition, the Student vs. Teacher prep rally. After the end of every quarter, LVA’s student council is diligently at work planning a fun and vibrant prep rally to reward students for their hard work and outstanding performance within their classes.

LVA’s homecoming committee is organizing the biggest school event, Prom. Under the supervision of Andrew Hall, the committee consists of seniors Xavier Lopez, Aline Rodriguez, Jazmin Tineo, Jorge Grullon, Ashly Nina, Marlen Amparo, Dayanna Bailey, Chelsea-Ray Vega, Roberta Wolff and Sofia Pinto. The goal this year is to raise nearly $30,000 to help offset the cost of Prom tickets. Thus far, they are continuing to brainstorm ideas to help with fundraising, more exciting news is to come about the development of this event!

With the help of Ariella Mease and Vidhya Thiyagarajan, LVA will be hosting its very own Mini-THON this year to raise money toward the Four Diamonds Fund, which is an organization geared supporting childhood cancer research. LVA’s Mini-THON club consists of nearly 100 students from grades 9-12. To keep the Mini-THON organized, subcommittees have been formed: Fundraising, Advertisement, Hospitality, Entertainment, Finance, Operations and Technology. LVA’s goal is to raise $10,000, but with dedication and hard work LVA is confident it will be able to surpass that number. So far committee members have been busy brainstorming fundraising ideas. One of the biggest ideas thus far is hosting an after-school hangout for students in grades 7-12, with all proceeds will going toward local hospitals. During the event, students will have the opportunity to create stuffed animals and will have the option of either keeping their stuffed animal or donating it to the hospital.