As the unorthodox 2019-20 school year drew to a close, Catasauqua High School faculty and staff had been working to recognize the outstanding work of the students one more time.

“Teachers were able to nominate students based on their performance and contributions in the new online learning environment,” said Ashley Schmidt, career facilitator.

This was the second Students of the Semester recognition for the new program at CHS. CHS made a Facebook post June 18 with the students’ pictures and the recognition they received. The first ceremony was held Jan. 23.

Through this program, students are recognized for positive employability skills, such as problem solving/critical thinking, communication, collaboration, leadership, professionalism/work ethic, global awareness, career management and information technology.

According to Schmidt, many of the students were nominated for their professionalism and work ethic in this unprecedented time. There are a total of 24 Students of the Semester for the final semester of the 2019-20 school year.

This semester’s nominees are Chloe Moyer for career management; Sydney Gebhart and Timari Wilkins for collaboration; Donovan Ahart, Ryan Casey, Kayla Cunningham and Emily Rivera for communication; and Jordan Blose, Conner Booth, Natalie Burgos-Ramos, Maranda Duncan, Santino Galoardi, Hope Gino, Madison Hicks, Taylor Hicks, Kyler Hunsicker, Hamyah Jenkins, Aaliyah Jimenez, Amber Kalnas, Vinny Limandri, Johannalis Rivera, Hailey Senatore Deschaine, Alex Treiber and Sarah Yandrasitz for professionalism/work ethic.

Schmidt shared some of the comments teachers and administrators made about the nominations before the end of the school year. She did not include who made the comments or who they were about. She stressed these were a representation of the comments, and all the nominations had a similar message.

“[This student] has done an excellent job with distance learning. He has been punctual with all of his assignments, done a fantastic job of communicating with me and was a major participant in the class Zoom meetings. I am very proud of his efforts,” one teacher said.

“[This student] has demonstrated proper etiquette in crafting emails to teachers and administrators. He makes it a point to begin and end his communications properly with a greeting and farewell. His communication in his writing is clear and concise. He also goes above and beyond just writing emails and completing his assignments. He took the time to email several teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, showing his caring and gratitude in written form. He goes above and beyond,” noted another nominator.

“[This student] has been my TA in both the classroom and during online instruction. Simply put, I cannot recall another student who functions at such a high standard. Her etiquette in her communication and task completion cannot be matched. She is proactive and intuitive with her duties - this goes far beyond just completing a task well that is handed her way. This is a rarely seen skill set that is more developed than what is seen in many working professional adults,” one teacher reported.

Teachers wrote personalized cards or letters for the students who were nominated to share their appreciation and respect for their efforts.

The school also sent letters home to the parents to let them know about the nomination. In the letter, Schnug recognized the importance of these employability skills in the students’ lives beyond high school.

“By receiving this nomination, your child will continue to be recognized for the endorsement of this skill on their high school transcript and resume,” Schnug said. “Colleges and employers alike will know your child is not only able to succeed academically, but has developed a specific transferable skill that will help them to be successful in whatever they pursue.”

Students received their award certificates and a school T-shirt when they came to the school’s end-of-the-year drop-off and pickup days June 8-10.

Families were asked to send a picture of the student wearing their new T-shirt to Leslie Estrada, district community liaison, to share on social media.

The program’s community partners include Biery’s Port Body Works, GR Electric LLC, Palermo’s Italian Grill, Pie’s On Pizzeria, The Gas House Dance Hall and Texas Roadhouse of Trexlertown.