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WASD Students, Employee Among Those Honored at 'Women of Excellence' Celebration

District Wide

November 04, 2022 | Awards & Celebrations

2022 Women of Excellence

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (NOVEMBER 4, 2022) — Four Williamsport Area High School students and one district employee were among those honored at the 14th annual Women of Excellence celebration, hosted by YWCA Northcentral PA on Nov. 3 at Farrington Place.

Among the evening’s seven award categories — each for professionals and high school student nominees — senior Marcella Fisher was chosen in Education, senior Madeline Pennings in Advocacy and junior Ella Wilson as a Junior Rising Star. Heather Way, the district’s mental health and trauma coordinator for grades 7-12, won the Education category.

WAHS senior Brynn Broaddus also was a nominee in the Education category.

In the event program, each reflected on their nominations:

Broaddus: “While I initially approached moving to Pennsylvania with hate, I now can reflect and see that it was the best thing to ever happen to me. Here, accepted and embraced, I can be unironically myself and do things that the ‘Texas’ Brynn would never have been able to fathom. To be nominated for an award in a community that has motivated and inspired me in unimaginable ways is the greatest honor.”

Fisher: “This nomination is so meaningful to me because I never expected to be recognized for all of my hard work. Throughout a lot of struggles and expectations, I always just worked hard for my own happiness.”

Pennings: “My mom has always told me to give without wanting to receive, and in the end good things will come to you when you most need it. I enjoy this work because it’s a way I can teach others to respect themselves and know their self-worth, because that’s what it has done for me. These experiences give me the opportunity to assist others to get back on their feet when society tells them they can’t, and it helps me to convince these individuals to challenge what society tells them they must be. As I get older, and step into this next chapter of life, I hope to continue this work in a more impactful way and spread it to any corner of the world life takes me.”

Way: “I am reminded of the quote by Edward Everett Hale, ‘I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I shall do.’ I am simply humbled and honored to be nominated.”
Wilson: “I am humbled to be considered for this special honor at an organization like the YWCA, which does so much for our community. As a young biracial woman, I’m appreciative of the YWCA’s work to eliminate racism and empower women.”

Forty-three nominations were made and 15 awards were granted from among the following categories: Art & Culture, Education, Advocacy, Health & Wellness, STEM, Sports, and Rising Star. One, Lynn Estomin, received the Wise Woman of the Year Award.

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