IVYLAND – Leadership is a word that gets thrown around quite a bit these days.
The question these days seems to be whether we have enough leaders coming up through the ranks to guide us through generations to come.
If the 34 young honorees at Wednesday night’s Levittown-Bristol Kiwanis Club Scholar-Athlete Dinner are indicative of what’s coming along, we’re all in pretty good shape.
These college-bound seniors have the academic and athletic credentials to prove they will be the voices of our society for the future.
Holy Ghost Prep’s Christopher Marshall said he believes his class has the right stuff to lead us down the road.
“I think leadership is everything in this world,” Marshall said after each scholar-athlete received a check for $1,000 toward their college tuition. “I think we need to look up to people around you. My parents have helped me with that. I look up to them every single day. They guided me.”
Marshall played ice hockey for the Firebirds. It’s a sport which teaches discipline and direction, two qualities of leadership which work in everyday situations.
“My school, Holy Ghost guided me,” Marshall said. “My family, my friends. So leadership is very important to me.”
Marshal will continue his education at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Kiwanis Club president Debbi Glass is proud of her organization’s 26-year association with this event. Some 170 people were on hand to recognize the achievements of these best of the best.
“They are amazing,” Glass said. “You talk about leadership, they are tomorrow’s leaders. We have to raise them up right. And I think acknowledging and celebrating their achievements is one way to show them that we care. They’re right there, doing what they should be doing. There’s hope for the future.”
Glass appreciates the nearly year-long planning stage it takes to pull off the dinner as well as its fundraiser, the Kiwanis-Herald Sesame Classic 5K, which drew upwards of 900 registrants for last Sunday’s race.
Wednesday night’s event went off like clockwork, as usual.
“It (the preparation) starts long before the event occurs,” Glass said. “There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work, the communication. . .just a lot of hours go into making it what it is. It is a success. We had a great race. A great dinner tonight. And just celebrating their accomplishments is amazing.”
Since 1999, the Classic has raised more than $600,000 for the Dick Doughtery Honorarium Fund and that number continues to grow.
“It never gets old,” said Kiwanis club treasurer Donna Milner of the dinner event. “Each year the accomplishments of the scholar-athletes are incredible. Their dedication to scholastics and their sports and their community service is always impressive.”
The Sesame Classic makes it all possible.
“This year we had 879 runners,” Milner said “And our sponsors this year were so generous. So we were able to make this happen once again. Hopefully we will have the 27th annual next year.”
Here are the 2026 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients:
>Archbishop Wood: Paige Eckert, Brendan Welsh.
>Bensalem: Grace McShane, Aidan Mayfield.
>Bristol: Grace Boyle, Jacob Perez.
>Central Bucks East: Paige Dougherty, Reuben Bell.
>Central Bucks South: Jacquelyn Waddell, Cade Crim.
>Central Bucks West: Kendra Pitts, Gavin Todd.
>Conwell-Egan: Angelini Pandolfi, Andrew Haney.
>Council Rock North: Alexa Pikul, Brady Pae.
>Council Rock South: Eshan Doegar, Riley Burks.
>George School: Margaret Massengill, Michael Macari.
>Harry S Truman: Jillyan Saperstein, Austin Allen.
>Holy Ghost Prep: Christopher Marshall.
>Morrisville: Gabrielle Viramontes, Alex Brown.
>Neshaminy: Emerson Rooney, Michael Eckart.
>New Hope-Solebury: Nora Erieva, Colin Foster.
>Pennsbury: Nolah Flynn, Jasper Stackawitz.
>Villa Joseph Marie: Madeline Heine.
>William Tennent: Alexis Cawley, Peter Comans.
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