SANCTUARY SERENADES

Students of all ages from Star of the Day Voice Studio will perform Feb. 8 in this year’s first Sanctuary Serenade, a free concert series, at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Emmaus.

The 7 p.m. winter recital is the first of six Friday night concerts scheduled this year by the church and Star of the Day Event Productions, a full-scale live entertainment company that performs in venues all over the Lehigh Valley.

Other Sanctuary Serenades are scheduled 7 p.m. May 3, June 7, Aug. 2, Oct. 4 and Dec. 20.

The concerts will feature local musicians performing “all genres of music from classical to Broadway and everything in between,” Kirsten Almeida, founder/president of Star of the Day, said.

This is the second year for the concert series in the church, 139 N. Fourth St., Emmaus.

“I am so proud of the partnership between St. John’s UCC and Star of the Day to bring the arts to the community of Emmaus,” Dr. Paul Knappenberger, pastor of the church, said.

A goodwill offering will be collected at the end of each hour-long show, with all proceeds going to the church’s capital campaign.

Other scheduled performers include local singer/songwriter Ben Tyler May 3, vocalist Mel Nichols Aug. 2 and Emmaus High student Rachel Knappenberger Oct. 4. A live nativity program is scheduled for Dec. 20.

After each concert, visitors will join the performers at a reception in the church’s fellowship hall.

For more information, contact the church at 610-965-9158.

LMMS

About 265 students from 25 middle, intermediate, elementary and junior high schools in three counties are registered to compete in the 35th annual Lehigh Valley MATHCOUNTS® event at Lower Macungie Middle School, 6299 Lower Macungie Road, Lower Macungie Township, Feb. 9.

The snow date will be Feb. 10.

Students will take written tests 9:15 to 11:45 a.m. in the gymnasium. The top 10 scoring students will face off in the countdown round, a “Jeopardy” style oral competition, 1 p.m. in the school auditorium.

Organized by the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers for students in Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, and Monroe counties, the event is one of about 20 Pennsylvania competitions. Regional winners advance to the state competition March 15 and 16 in Harrisburg.

Students and coaches devote many after school hours to prepare for the competition.

The 2018 national MATHCOUNTS® competition will take place May 11 to 14 in Orlando, Fla. Raytheon Corporation is the title sponsor. Nationwide approximately 40,000 students, representing more than 5,500 schools, will participate in the national event.

Lehigh County schools participating in the event Feb. 9 include: Eyer Middle School; Harrison Morton Middle School; Lower Macungie Middle School; Orefield Middle School; Saint Thomas More School; Southern Lehigh Middle School; Springhouse Middle School; Saint Ann School, Emmaus; Saint Joseph the Worker School; Saint Theresa School; The Swain School, Salisbury Township and Trexler Middle School.

Schools from Northampton County are: East Hills Middle School; Easton Area Middle School; Moravian Academy; Nitschmann Middle School; St. Ann School, Bethlehem; St. Jane Frances de Chantal School and Saucon Valley Middle School.

Monroe County schools are Clear Run Intermediate School; Pocono Mountain East Junior High School; Pocono Mountain West Junior High School; Tobyhanna Elementary Center and Swiftwater Intermediate School.

Prizes at the Lehigh Valley competition include scholarships for math and/or science courses at Cedar Crest College, Moravian College, Lafayette College, Lehigh Carbon Community College and Northampton County Community College.

MATHCOUNTS®, a program of the National Society of Professional Engineers, is a math enrichment, coaching and competition program promoting middle school mathematics achievement in every U.S. state and territory to provide students with the foundation for success in science, technology, engineering or mathematics careers.