With the holiday's right around the corner, the students are hard at work submitting assignments, taking tests and making LVA better than ever.

The student governments for each grade have been formed and each group was to pick a charity that they would fundraise for throughout the year. The ninth grade chose Autism Speaks; 10th grade chose the Dragonfly Foundation; 11th grade chose the American Cancer Society; and the 12th grade chose the Lehigh Valley Children's Hospital. Every month a group rotates and has their opportunity to fundraise through a dress down day. Other fundraisers are going to be administered throughout the year as each grade comes up with their own activity and gets their opportunity to raise money for their charity.

The senior government hosted LVA's 2013 Homecoming Nov. 15. The Candy Land theme was put together with wonderful decorations donated by senior, Lauren Foose. Lauren and the rest of the decorating crew brought the whole theme of Candy Land together. Students enjoyed snacking on candy, dancing to great music, and enjoying the fun-filled night.

Our Homecoming also featured the crowning of the Prince and Princess as well as the King and Queen. This year's Prince was 10th grader Louis Reyes and the princess was 10th grader Isabelle Ambrose. Our King was 11th grader, Justin Ramirez and our Queen was 11th grader Gio Presinal. This year's homecoming was one of the most successful homecomings that LVA has had, having sold over 140 tickets. The leftover money that was raised is going to be donated to the senior's charity, Lehigh Valley Children's Hospital.

During the week of Nov. 11, students were busy decorating their homeroom door. Each door was to be decorated, showing different aspects of MSA. The doors turned out even better than expected! It was very apparent that our school has a lot of spirit and creativity.

From Nov. 16 to 20, the Middle States Visiting Team came and interviewed students, staff and parents. The team was pleased with our school and has recommended us for Middle States Accreditation. There will be a written report from the visiting team that will be submitted and then voted on to accept their recommendation.

In the midst of everything else going on in LVA, seniors have been applying to colleges, some already receiving acceptance letters, and registering for International Baccalaureate exams. Every student has the option to take the tests. Students have the choice to take every exam and go for the full IB diploma or take a select number of tests and go for IB certificates. Similar to AP exams, students will potentially receive college credits depending on the scores they receive. There were even four scholarships handed out, two of them covering the total cost of the full IB exam and two covering half of the total cost of the full IB exam. Students have chosen and will soon prepare for their exams that will take place in May.