Our Mission

Since 1956, the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation has existed to help deserving Pennsbury graduates achieve their goal of higher education.

Medill Bair, who was the regional superintendent of the Pennsbury Joint School District, started a personal campaign in 1954 to convince local educators and civic and industrial leaders there should be financial assistance "to see that every boy and girl, having attended the Pennsbury Schools, can advance to a higher learning of his or her choice, regardless of race, color or creed." 

Our History 

In 1955, the Superintendent of the Pennsbury School District, Medill Bair, invited a group of local businessmen and community leaders to the Washington Crossing Inn to discuss a scholarship foundation that would help make it possible for every boy or girl graduating from Pennsbury to attend the post high school institution of their choice.

This founding group of businessmen met often to plan, organize, and carry out projects and fundraising events that would provide the basis for perpetuating yearly scholarships. The Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation was incorporated in l956, making it the oldest privately funded scholarship foundation serving a public school district in the country.

In the early days between 1956 and 1968, the scholarships were awarded based primarily on need. In 1968, an endowment came from the estate of a prominent local developer and his wife, William H. and Anna C. Hayes. Along with the Hayes endowment came guidelines for awarding scholarships that are still used today. All scholarships are based equally on four criteria: need, academic achievement, leadership and character. Additionally, all scholarships are awarded as one-half grant and one-half zero-interest loan, repayable starting 6 months after the student leaves college.

The money available to be awarded in any one year comes from the dividends and interest accumulated over the previous year, plus loan repayments. A conservative approach is taken with regard to the portfolio investments. Loan repayments represent a significant portion of the money given out, amounting to approximately $40,000 in recent years. 

During the past 68 years, approximately $3,900,000 in grants and zero-interest loans has been awarded to over 1,900 Pennsbury graduates. In recent years, awards have ranged from $1,500 to $8,500. 

In 1998, the Board of Directors established an endowment program designed to perpetuate the name of a loved one. Typically family and friends of the loved one establish a namesake scholarship by contributing until a principal amount of $15,000 has been reached. At that time, the earnings on the principal can support a $1,000 scholarship, which is awarded each year thereafter. Since 1998, a total of 55 such namesake scholarships have been endowed in memory/honor of 49 individuals. Among them are 20 Pennsbury High School graduates. 

Source of Award Money

Money available for awards by the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation comes from income from trusts and donations such as: 

• Endowed Namesake Scholarships
• Loan repayments from former recipients
• Memorial gifts and honorariums
• Gifts in honor of birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, etc.
• Donations from business, industry and community members
• The Hayes Trust Fund
• Gifts of stock
• Gifts from PTO fundraisers
• Gifts from the Pennsbury Education Association, the Pennsbury Educational Support Personnel Association, and the Pennsbury Administrators and Supervisors Association.
• Fundraising projects organized by the Foundation's board of directors 

Our Board of Directors 

An independent, all-volunteer board of directors, comprised of school district and community representatives, administers the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation. The Board is responsible for raising funds to support the Foundation's growth and overseeing the awarding of grants and loans.

The following people form the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation's Board of Directors:

Officers

• • President: Jeffrey C. Smith (Langhorne, PA)
  • Executive Vice President: Jeffrey Sibner, DMD (Yardley, PA)
  • Treasurer: Louise P. Harman, CPA, MBA (Langhorne, PA)
  • Assistant Treasurer: Mary Lou Bradley (Yardley, PA)
  • Secretary: Vickie Brunozzi (Yardley, PA)

Directors

• • Sheena Bediako, Esq. (Yardley, PA) 
  • Victoria Elliot, RPh, MBA, CAE (Yardley, PA)
  • Randi Flax (Yardley, PA)
  • Katie Freeman, PhD (Yardley, PA)  
  • Mauli Griesbaum (Yardley, PA)
  • Brandon McFadden (Yardley, PA)
  • Donna Nicholson (Yardley, PA)
  • Amy Patterson (Yardley, PA)
  • Carol Regan (Levittown, PA)
  • James Riesenberger, DMD (Newtown, PA)  
  • Randy Stradling (Yardley, PA)
  • Ashley Ritter, APRN, PhD (Yardley, PA)
  • Mary-Anne Smith (Yardley, PA)
  • Randy Stradling (Yardley, PA)
  • Mark Tarallo, Ed.D. (Yardley, PA)  

Pennsbury School District Representatives

• • Superintendent: Thomas A. Smith, Ed.D.
  • Asst. Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction K-12 : Theresa Ricci, Ed.D.
  • School Board President: Dr. Joanna Steere

Emeritus Directors

• • Herbert Duffy (Levittown, PA) 
  • Thomas. E. Engleman (Souderton, PA)
  • Jack E. Erickson (Newtown, PA)
  • Robert H. McLaren (Langhorne, PA)