The Allentown Central Catholic High School seniors celebrated their last day of school May 25, where they enjoyed breakfast, shirt signing and a water balloon fight in the school parking lot.

Baccalaureate Mass was celebrated by Bishop Alfred Schlert at St. Thomas More Church, Salisbury Township, May 31. During Mass, the distinguished alumni awards were presented. Graduation was held in Rockne Hall June 1 and featured speeches by Olivia Luchetti, valedictorian and Valerie Kline, salutatorian.

The middle school and freshman football teams will hold a registration and fundraiser night June 30 at the PPL Center in Allentown. Any student who registers 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. will receive free admission to the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks football game that night. The game starts 7 p.m.

The boys lacrosse team competed against Bishop Shanahan June 2 in the PIAA 2A Quarterfinals. The District XI Champions were ultimately defeated by Bishop Shanahan 13-7 after a challenging game.

The Viking baseball team played in the District XI Championship against Northern Lehigh May 26 at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. The Vikings were defeated 4-5 after a close game.

Recent graduates of Central Catholic continue to impact the high school athletic community. Four-year varsity letter winners AJ Brosious, Robert Roman and Justin Welch represented ACCHS in the Howard E. Deppe Senior All-Star Baseball Classic June 2 at Limeport Stadium. Recent graduate Emily Deschler was honored at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Scholar Athlete Luncheon May 30. Deschler won the award in the fall for girls cross country and in spring for girls track and field.

The EPC Boys Tennis All-Stars were recently announced. Second Team members include recent graduate Morgan Cowen and junior Ben Carbonetto for their doubles team during the 2018 season.

The Viking varsity mini golf game was held June 7 at Putt U Miniature Golf, Center Valley. Team Cardi B, which consisted of chaplain Fr. Mark Searles and seniors Emily Kidd, Lauren Minutella, Julia Santos and Katelyn Wang, won the team competition. Senior Jess Davis was the solo winner of the event, which is held annually as a Viking Fest fundraiser. Viking Fest is an annual event held in the spring to benefit Central Catholic.

Allentown Central Catholic High School students celebrated the end of the 2017-2018 school year with Mass before dismissing for the summer June 8. The Mass was the culmination of finals week, which also consisted of locker cleanouts, numerous club meetings and a Class of 2019 tailgate party in the parking lot.

Members of the Central City Project have started cultivating their summer urban garden on Fourth Street in Allentown. Carrots, tomatoes, jalapeños and other vegetables are grown to be used in the production of Viking Salsa and Hot Shots, a specialty hot sauce. The salsa and hot sauce are sold during football games and other events to benefit the CCP, which engages in community outreach programs such as clothing giveaways and community dinners.

ACCHS was recently featured in Our Sunday Visitor, a national Catholic publication. In the article, which was entitled “Teens and Mental Health: An Urgent Need” focusing on teens’ mental health, Fr. Mark Searles discusses the student assistance program, an anonymous referral system for when a student is struggling in some way.

Mya Zettlemoyer will play on the Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup softball team. The Carpenter Cup gives “the best high school players in the tri-state area the opportunity to showcase their talents in front of college scouts,” according to the Philadelphia Phillies website. The cup will take place June 25 to 28 at the Phillies Youth Academy Fields in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in Philadelphia. Lehigh Valley’s first game will be against Tri Cape 11 a.m. June 25.

The Class of 1998 will hold its 20th reunion 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Corked Winebar in Bethlehem. An email invitation will be sent out this month. Interested alumni are asked to update their email addresses at development@acchs.info. Updates are also available on Facebook (@CCHS1998REUNION) and at acchs.info/reunion-news.

Central will begin the 2018-2019 school year at the end of August. Freshmen start Aug 27 and all other students return Aug. 28.