The end of the first quarter is almost here, but luckily for Lehigh Valley Academy seniors, they were able to take a break from school work and go on a trip to New York City. The trip was planned for art and film students, but some design tech students came along.

Art, film and design tech are classes that are offered in the Diploma Program or also known as DP which are for juniors and seniors only.

On the trip to New York students visited the 9/11 Memorial, enjoyed the Sky Line and saw Les Miserable on Broadway. It was such a blast discovering so many things in a big city.

As fun as the New York trip was, there is still more to come for the seniors. Soon, they will have to take their mock exams. The mock exams are designed to determine if they are capable of taking the International Baccalaureate exams also known as IB exams.

IB exams are about $810 if one is taking the full exam to get the IB scholarship, but it's not mandatory. Many students who would like to take the full exam usually apply for the DP Scholarship Application which is an application where students write a personal statement on why they should be chosen as a candidate to receive a full scholarship that is a value of $805 only four are chosen to receive the full scholarship and two are chosen to receive a value of $470.

Besides the exams, the ninth grade student council is raising awareness about bullying. They have created anti-bully shirts to heighten student awareness about the issue. To help prevent the spread of bullying, Lehigh Valley Academy is going to donate money to organizations that deal with bullying. Lehigh Valley Academy has also dedicated a day to talk about why bully is wrong and why it should not be done. It is important to Lehigh Valley Academy because impacting our community in a positive way is valuable to us.

In addition to raising awareness about bullying, Lehigh Valley Academy is observing Homecoming Nov. 7 for ninth through 12th graders. The tickets are required for the event which starts at 7p.m. and ends at 11. The homecoming committee is working on making this homecoming to be the best one yet. The theme for this year's homecoming is Vintage Carnival. There will be games, food and music for all to enjoy.

Lehigh Valley Academy is also hosting a college night for juniors and their parents about financing. In late September, Lehigh Valley Academy hosted a college night for the seniors on college essays offered by Moravian University. Not only did the students have the opportunity to ask questions, but they were also allowed to submit their college essays for evaluation.