CHAPMAN SCHOLARS HONORED FOR SERVICE
Four local students get scholarships for academic, extracurricular work
Four of Hatfield Township’s top students have joined a long list of those helping to keep alive the legacy of a fallen officer.
Local students Erin Druding, Olivia Follis, Ariana Gardizy and Julie Mumford were each recognized last week as the 2018 winners of the Hatfield Police Department’s Officer William J. Chapman Memorial Scholarship Award winners.
“Officer Chapman would be proud of these extraordinary young adults receiving this scholarship bearing his name. Congratulations to each of you, and thank you for helping us honor our friend,” said police Sergeant Jeff Boyd.
For 13 years now, the department’s Police Benevolent Association has chosen students entering public service-related fields to receive scholarships in memory of Chapman, who worked for the department for 15 years until his death from an illness in 2005.
“Those who were fortunate enough to call him a friend remember his kindness, his loyalty, tireless optimism, and his remarkable sense of humor,” said Boyd.
“Those who met him because of his profession remember a sincere and a fair officer, whose efforts never strayed from serving our community with dedication and benevolence,” he said.
Boyd and police Detective Rich Hoffner read biographies of each Chapman scholarship winner during the commissioners’ July 25 meeting, and the students were cheered and applauded by family and friends after receiving their formal recognitions from the department. Each was chosen because they plan to enter a public serviceoriented field, and have gone above and beyond to help improve their communities.
“The students being acknowledged tonight exemplify the spirit of this scholarship. While we were very impressed with their scholastic achievements, they distinguished themselves through their outstanding personal achievements, and commitment to their communities,” Boyd said.
Druding graduated from Lansdale Catholic High School with first and second honors during all four years there, She was involved with the school’s CYO volleyball team, volunteered at St. Rose of Lima Church and assisted the elderly via Lansdale Hospital’s elder life program, and spent time with LC’s Community Service Corps.
“She also volunteered for four years with Operation Smile, and she started an Operation Smile club at LC, to raise funds and awareness for children and adults in Third World countries
with facial deformities,” Hoffner said.
At the same time, Druding also worked as a gymnastics coach and baby-sitter during the week, and plans to attend Moravian College in fall to pursue a degree in nursing, according to Hoffner.
Follis graduated from North Penn High School with an academic rank of 27 out of 992 students in her graduating class, with distinguished honor roll for each year, while playing on the varsity girls soccer team, leading the schools National Spanish Honors Society, and acting a member of the National Honors Society, Hoffner said. She was also involved with several school clubs, volunteered with a health clinic in Philadelphia to assist low-income and undocumented
residents, and volunteered at Manna on Main Street and the high school lacrosse team’s snack stand, all while working at a day care. This fall, she will attend Temple University pursuing a degree in biology with a pre-med track.
Gardizy also graduated from North Penn, with an academic rank of 41 out of 992 in her class, with distinguished honors for every marking period, and while acting as captain of the high schools’s track and cross-country teams.
“She has earned numerous state, local and national awards for her excellence. She also achieved AllAmerican honors, and she holds school records,” Hoffner said. Gardizy was also involved in the school’s student government, National Honors Society, and Key Club, volunteered for school blood drives, at a local Ronald McDonald house, and with the homeless in Philadelphia, while working a
waiter’s job. Gardizy will attend the University of Pennsylvania and pursue a degree in nursing in the fall, Hoffner said.
Mumford also graduated from North Penn, where she was involved as the treasurer, then president of its Key Club, organized monthly fundraisers for Manna on Main Street and other nonprofits, and played on the school’s varsity bocce and track teams. She also volunteered at blood drives, the school’s Special Olympics, and at Lansdale Hospital, where she also took an occupational therapy internship; Mumford also worked at a Lansdale restaurant throughout that time, and will attend Penn State University to pursue a degree in occupational therapy, according to Hoffner.
Commissioners President Tom Zipfel said he has known Mumford and her family personally since she was seven years old and was “not surprised for a second”
that she earned the honor, and congratulated all four, and their parents, on their accomplishments so far.
“You have done more in your lifetimes, just by your senior year, than many have done in their entire life. And you should be very proud of that,” Zipfel said.
“To all of you, to not just the four of you, but to the moms and dads that supported you throughout al of this, you should get an award too, for all of the driving, and all of the support, and all of the parental anxiety that goes along with having kids that are so involved, and such fantastic achievers. Congratulations,” he said.