Bethlehem Area School District held its second annual academic signing event as the top 23 graduating seniors signed their letters of intent in front of family, friends and district officials June 1 in the BASD Education Center.

The scene appeared similar to an athletic signing event, but instead of athletes under the spotlight yet again, Bethlehem's brightest students were the ones commemorated in front of the cameras.

The top 12 students from both Freedom and Liberty high schools made commitments to a multitude of noteworthy schools from Princeton University to Johns Hopkins University and everywhere in between.

And they all earned their scholarships the old fashioned way: by studying. Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy and other area administrators put on the event to recognize the district's elite.

Dr. Roy left them with a piece of advice before they set out on their journeys.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it," he said. "Don't let the weeks go by if you're not sure about something."

Contrasting the academic letter of intent signings with similar athletic signings, assistant superintendent Dr. Jack Silva reminded those in attendance that the "primary enterprise of Bethlehem schools is academics," before he introduced the students.

The 23 signers will major in an array of fields such as bio engineering, chemical engineering, international relations, nursing, math, computer science, environmental science, English and public health.

Parent Paul Kundrik and his wife Rosemary attended to support their daughter Allison, who graduated from Liberty HS and will attend Lehigh University.

"I think it's nice for the kids," Kundrik said. "It shows all of the work that they've done throughout high school."

Freedom seniors and their colleges: Kevin Berry, University of Pittsburgh; John Deely. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Owen Drozd, University of Scranton; Marina Fam, Johns Hopkins University; Elaine Fink, University of Pittsburgh; Helen Hsu, Cornell University; He Lee Ko, Johns Hopkins University; Hector Li, University of Pittsburgh; Shaina Palmer, Johns Hopkins University; Priyanka Patel, Rutgers University; and Leah Williams, Messiah University.

Liberty seniors and their colleges: Chelsea DeFrancisco, DeSales University; Paula Marie Escott, University of Maryland; Paul Steven Grocholski, Lehigh University; Jenna Kaufmann, Princeton University; Samantha Kotze, University of Maine; Michael Krawchuk, University of Pittsburgh; Allison Kundrik, Lehigh University; Anita Kundu, Duke University; Joshua Ledyard, American University; Julian Richard Mark. University of Pennsylvania; Kaitlin Nguyen, Lafayette College; and Byounghyun Park, Duke University.