Article By: BERNIE O’HARE Special to the Bethlehem Press
Bethlehem Catholic HS graduated its 2017 class of 202 seniors in a commencement ceremony at the school auditorium June 7. Though the school is mostly known for its athletic prowess in the East Penn Conference and District XI, this graduating class received 176 scholarships and awards to 52 different colleges and universities.
Valedictorian Florencia Dayan will attend George Washington University and is the recipient of a Presidential Scholarship. Salutatorian Maria Macaluso will be attending Lehigh University. Both are among 45 seniors who received the President’s Award for Academic Excellence.
The other top academic graduates include Paige Faasuamalie, Megan Friend (University of Alabama scholarship), Yiwei Lyu, Blake McGill, Kevin Michels (Boston College scholarship), Elizabeth Nemec, Emily Prendeville (Seton Hall University scholarship, Donovan Stuard (Widener University scholarship), Rachel Tanczos and Christopher Walakovits.
Class speaker Katie Hess said the Becahi experience was like none other in the Lehigh Valley. She said she actually felt God’s presence in the faculty and staff and thanked them for being so willing to sacrifice their own time to students.
She said she was also proud that Bethlehem Catholic was able to raise $67,000 during its Mini-THON, to fight pediatric cancer.
For the past seven years, John Petruzzelli has been the principal at Bethlehem Catholic HS. He helped confer the diplomas. But all good things must come to an end. At the end of this month, he’ll be taking over at St.Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia.
That’s a Jesuit school, considered one of the finest in the country. He’s a graduate himself, and worked there between 1998 and 2004.
“It’s bittersweet,” Petruzzelli said. What he’ll miss most, he said, are the students, whom he called “the best kids around.”
First established in 1926 by the Sisters of St. Joseph on the city’s South Side, Becahi has been located on Madison Avenue since 1964. Its enrollment is around 750 students between ninth and 12 grade, taught by 43 full-time laity, religious and priests. Ninety-seven percent of its graduates go on to college.