By Sara K. Satullo | For lehighvalleylive.com

Usually the Bethlehem Area School District superintendent’s scholarship winners learn they’ve won a full scholarship to Moravian College in a surprise celebration at their high school.

Thanks to the coronavirus, things are a bit different this year as schools have been closed since March.

But Moravian College is still awarding a student from Liberty and Freedom high schools a four-year, full-tuition scholarship. The Bethlehem school announced the winners of the 2020 BASD superintendent’s scholarship on Thursday.

Damian Almonte is a graduating senior from Freedom while Amanda Doughtery is graduating from Liberty.

“Once again, two outstanding students from Freedom and Liberty High Schools have been selected for the superintendent’s scholarship,” said Bryon Grigsby, president of Moravian. “We’re confident they’ll follow in the footsteps of the scholarship’s previous winners and have a great experience at Moravian and not only excel academically, but get involved in campus and life and make their mark on the community.”

Almonte hopes to major in secondary education at Moravian. During his time at Freedom, many of his teachers were Moravian alumni. Almonte was president of the Gay Straight Alliance at Freedom and student director of the high school’s Patriot Choir.

Dougherty is interested in majoring in health sciences to pursue a career in nutrition. She bought her own piano and taught herself to play, going on to become an accompanist for the Liberty choir. She was also a cheerleader with a competitive community squad.

The scholarship began in 2016. Any Liberty or Freedom can apply.

High school guidance counselors whittle down the applicant pool and then Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy works with Moravian to select the winners.

“This scholarship represents Moravian College’s generosity and commitment to the students and families of BASD,” Roy said. “Damian and Amanda will, in turn, quickly become valuable members of the Moravian community.”

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This article appeared on Lehigh Valley Live on June 11, 2020. To view the article on the Lehigh Valley Live website, please visit No party this year, but Moravian College is still giving full scholarships to 2 Bethlehem students

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Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com.