School directors recognized the profound academic and extracurricular achievements of several students from Liberty HS and Freedom HS at their monthly board meeting March 20 at East Hills MS.

Liberty HS senior and member of the broadcasting staff Sean Collins was recognized for creating a video documenting the Liberty HS Grenadier Band’s trip to Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii Nov. 20-26, 2016. The band was invited to perform as the honorary band in the Waikiki Holiday Parade, as well as the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

“Thank you for capturing a piece of the history of Liberty HS and the history of our district through that video and the great work you did in your class,” district superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy said.

Viewers can watch the video at the Liberty HS Grenadier Band’s page on YouTube. The video is titled, “Trip of a Lifetime.”

Four seniors were also recognized for having qualified as National Merit Finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are Michael O. Harding and Carol W. Lin from Freedom HS and Madeleine G. Atwood and Samuel Kaufmann from Liberty HS.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is a nationwide competition for various university and academic scholarships. Students qualify as finalists based on their performance on the Preliminary State Assessment Test (PSAT), which 1.6 million students across the United States take in their junior year. That number is whittled down to 15,000 finalists.

“We’re proud to have four of those National Merit Finalists from Freedom and Liberty,” Roy said. “These students have obviously done well in the National Merit Scholarship Program, but they’re also outstanding students in our schools both in the classroom and beyond in their contributions.”

Finally, Liberty HS seniors Mary Kate Fogarty and Keri Appleman were recognized for having won the district’s first culinary cook-off/fundraiser held Jan. 25 at Liberty HS.

The cook-off was sponsored by Sodexo and raised over $600 benefiting the BASD Mini-THON, a 12-hour dance marathon happening March 25 at Freedom HS. The THON is raising funds for Four Diamonds at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey. Four Diamonds is dedicated to pediatric cancer research, treatment and covering all patient medical expenses.

During the cook-off, six pairs of high school students competed to create the tastiest dish fitting with the theme “Favorite Comfort Foods.” Faculty, staff and administrators paid $10 per plate and voted for the winning recipe. Fogarty and Appleman won with their spin-off of a Cuban-style sandwich that they called the “Mini Ham and Swiss Cheese Sandwich.”

“Congratulations to Mary Kate and Keri for your outstanding culinary effort,” Roy said.