For students at Bethlehem Catholic HS, the months of February and March brought not only the onset of the season of spring, but also the kickoff of spring sports and activities, as well as the reunion of many students as they returned to in-person learning five days a week. On Wednesday, March 24, excitement was in the air as both halves of the alphabet were welcomed into the school at once. The teachers spoke to their classes about how glad they were to be interacting with real pupils in front of them, and the students’ delight at returning to some semblance of normalcy was evident in their exchanges with their peers. Although a virtual option is still available for those students who would prefer at-home synchronous learning at this time, Bethlehem Catholic intends to keep its doors open to greet all students each morning until the conclusion of the school year.

The spring sports teams, who have been eagerly awaiting their competitions since the cancellation of their seasons last year, are finally getting back onto the turfs, fields, tracks and courts. Becahi’s boys’ tennis team is off to a promising start with a record of 4-2: in three of the matches, junior Anthony Barczynski won at third singles in three sets, allowing junior Curtis Gruber and sophomore Armaan Makwana to collaborate to win the doubles tiebreakers. At first singles, Gruber defeated Freedom High School’s Noah Potts in Becahi and Freedom’s second face-off after losing to Potts in the first, and Makwana is currently undefeated at second singles. The baseball team has an even better record – led by captains Cole Hershman, Matthew Martinez, and Jaden Clements, they have won all three of their games, defeating Pottsville in their first game and Northampton twice. Becahi’s track team will be competing in its first meet tomorrow at Liberty HS.

Bethlehem Catholic Theater is working hard to produce its spring musical, The Spitfire Grill, a show based on a film by the same name by Lee David Zlotoff. The musical follows a plot line about an ex-convict by the name of Percy Talbott who wants a fresh start in the small town of Gilead, where she is employed by an elderly woman named Hannah Ferguson at The Spitfire Grill. Main roles are played by sophomores Sydney Bennett and Eoin Egbert; juniors Ryanna Kral, Robert Ruhl and Emma Smith; and seniors Samantha Hoffman and Colin Core. The cast and crew hope to record the show and release it for viewing in May.

This week the Golden Hawk Band will work together with the rest of the music department to record pieces for its spring concert, which will be compiled and presented via YouTube in May. The production will feature performances by the band front, orchestra, jazz band, and concert band. The concert band portion of the concert will include seven socially distanced group selections, as well as recitals by individual musicians. In addition to the spring concert debut, May will also hold a second performance by the Golden Hawk Band: a tribute to the armed forces on Memorial Day, which will also be recorded and released for public viewing.

Community service events are also continuing. Hawk Ambassadors from each of the feeder schools recently recorded videos reading Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go! to send to young students at the schools, since they could not physically travel there to read in person. In addition, the Becahi Peer Listeners traveled to Holy Infancy School on Tuesday, March 30, to donate books to the students and lead crafts in some of the classes.