BEDFORD — The Bedford Area School District and the Community School Excellence Council invite the community to attend the Hall of Excellence for the Class of 2025. The event will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at Bedford High School auditorium.

The Hall of Excellence honors individuals who have made significant lifelong contributions as either graduates of the Bedford Area School District, former educators who served with distinction or those who have made significant contributions of time and effort to the district.

The 2025 inductees are:

Dr. Todd Goodman

Dr. Todd Goodman is a prominent figure in the contemporary classical music scene, pushing the boundaries of the genre with his unique style and vision. His music is performed and recorded around the globe by musicians of all levels — including world-renowned soloists, top-tier professional ensembles, academic ensembles and learners of all ages.

Recordings of Goodman’s music can be found on record labels from all over the world. As an advocate for arts education, Goodman has served for over two decades in various compositional and educational residencies with orchestras, opera companies, performing arts centers and academic institutions around the U.S. and was a nominee for the first Educator of the Year Grammy Award. Goodman is a 1995 graduate of Bedford High School and holds degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Duquesne University and Kent State University, and has studied at l’Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado.

David O’Brien

David O’Brien taught math at Bedford High School from 1958 to 1993. He held a bachelor’s degree in math education from Shippensburg University and a master’s degree in math education from the University of Georgia.

During his tenure, David taught all math subjects at Bedford High School, initially starting with eighth grade math in 1958, then senior math, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and pre-calculus.

In addition to his math classes, David initiated taking Bedford students to math competitions. He also was an assistant wrestling coach from 1959 to 1966, and he volunteered with the softball team. He was chairman of class advisers from 1958 to 1964 and from 1971 to 1977, and was class adviser to the classes of 1964 and 1977.

After retirement from Bedford High School, David continued his love of working with students by teaching math at Allegheny Community College. David is an Air Force veteran, serving from 1949 to 1952, where he was a radio radar mechanic for F84 Fighter Jets.

Laura Jackson

Laura Jackson graduated from Everett Area High School before attending Juniata College, where she received a B.S. in biology in 1971 and an M.Ed. in science education at the University of Georgia. In 1983, she and her husband, Mike, moved back to their family farm just south of Everett. In 1985, she was hired as a biology and advanced biology teacher at Bedford High School, where she also developed and taught the environmental science curriculum to non-academic juniors. A few years later, she and another teacher began teaching environmental science to all ninth graders. During her 22-year career at Bedford High School, she also taught microbiology, anatomy and physiology and AP biology. Laura devoted 15 years as an adviser to students interested in science research in the Junior Academy of Science and coached Envirothon teams that won at local and state levels. She started the recycling program at Bedford High School and mentored a team on recycling issues for the Seiko Youth Challenge.

They placed second in the national level and won a trip to New York City. She won many teaching grants and awards; the highest honor was receiving the 1995 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. After retiring from the classroom in 2007, she oversaw Bedford Elementary’s Environmental Center where she loved teaching K-5 students about nature. A proponent of hands-on and peer-to-peer learning, Laura immersed her students in meaningful explorations that helped them understand the complexity of biology and their impact on the environment. She continues to share her passion for nature and wildlife with the community through leadership positions in many conservation organizations.

Francis “Whitey” Koontz

In the winter of 1936, under the urging of Athletic Director Edward Sheely, Francis “Whitey” Koontz founded the sport of wrestling at Bedford High School.

Whitey was a 1927 graduate of Bedford where he was a star running back on the football team for four years. Whitey was also a star sprinter on the track team.

After graduating from Bedford, Koontz attended Gettysburg College. As an undergraduate, he played fullback on the football team and was a starter on the college’s first wrestling team. During his college junior grid season, he and his teammates of McCloy and Anglemoyer were tabbed, “the Blond Backfield” and they went on a scoring rampage that resulted in a 6-3 season. Koontz accounted for many of the 152 points scored that year. He graduated from Gettysburg in 1931.

Koontz returned to Bedford as a teacher and he started the first wrestling team in 1936. Bedford was the first wrestling team in the county.

Bedford wrestled only Boswell its first year and lost twice, 18-16 and 20-13. The young Bisons dropped five more matches the following season, but went 3-3 in the 1938-39 season, including wins over Boswell, Lock Haven and Tyrone.

The Bedford wrestling program prospered in the years that followed. The Bisons went undefeated in 1944 and won the District V title in 1944 and 45. John Heacock was Bedford’s first state wrestling champion in 1945 and only the second state champ Bedford had in any sport. John “Boots” Clark had won the 100 and 220 yards dash in track in 1930.

Whitey coached for 21 years and had a career record of 103-62-1. His last four teams had a combined record of 34-3-1. He coached three undefeated teams: 1944, 1955 and 1956. He had 62 individual District V champions, including Don “PeeWee” Jones who was the first four-time champ from Bedford and District V. He also coached four state runners-up: John Heacock twice, in 1944 and 1946, Bob Hershberger in 1947 and Alan Hershberger in 1949.

Whitey retired from coaching wrestling after the 1957 season. ln recognition of his record and achievements as a coach, Koontz was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1974. He also was inducted into the Gettysburg Hall of Athletic Honor in 1983.

Koontz was an avid golfer for more than 50 years, including being the golf pro at the Bedford Springs in the 1940s.

Koontz married Jane Atkins in 1939 and they had one daughter, Linda, three grandchildren and four great grandsons. He retired from teaching in 1972 and passed away on Aug. 27, 1994.

Francis “Whitey” Koontz will always be remembered as the “Father of Bedford Wrestling.”

Steven McElroy, MD

Dr. Steven McElroy graduated from Bedford High School in 1991 where he enjoyed choir, theater, track and field and soccer. McElroy received his bachelor’s degree at Juniata College, Huntingdon, his medical degree at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, his pediatrics training at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia and his neonatal-perinatal medicine training at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

Steve was a faculty member at Vanderbilt University and The University of Iowa. He is now at The University of California, Davis, as an endowed professor in pediatrics and chief of the division of neonatology. In addition to his clinical care of premature and sick infants in the neonatal ICU, McElroy has had a long-standing research interest in understanding injury and repair mechanisms in the developing intestine and in intestinal diseases of preterm infants. McElroy is passionate about teaching and mentoring. He has lectured nationally and internationally and has won several awards for his teaching skills. As of 2025, McElroy has published 58 manuscripts and four book chapters and has held leadership positions at his institutions and multiple national societies. McElroy is thankful for his time at Bedford and his teachers who helped teach him the values of hard work, being thorough and the joy of helping others.

Judge J. Colvin Wright Sr.

Judge John Colvin Wright Sr. dutifully studied, upheld and interpreted the law and left behind an impressive legacy. A Bedford native, he was born Nov. 20, 1901. After graduating from Bedford High School in 1918, he attended Haverford until graduating as a Phi Beta Kappa member in 1922. He earned his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1925 within the Order of the Coif, one of the highest honors a law student can receive. Upon passing the Pennsylvania State Bar exam, he appeared in a menagerie of courts from the lowest local levels to the Supreme Court of the United States itself. However, he was elected in 1927 as Bedford County’s district attorney and appointed as County Solicitor in 1932. He married Margaret Kathleen Wright, who also became an attorney and judge, in 1938. From here on, Wright continued to climb, becoming President Judge of the 57th Judicial District in 1941. He was very active within his community, belonging to a number of fraternal groups.

He was also an elder of the Presbyterian Church and a director in the Bedford Volunteer Fire Company. Not only was he active within his community, but he also was active in statewide and nationwide circles, such as the Republican Party, which he became delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1952. While he served in Bedford County, he often sat in different judicial districts out of need. Eventually, he was appointed to a seat in the Pennsylvania Superior Court and was elected to a full term soon after, becoming the President Judge of the Superior Court in 1968.

Although he passed in 1978, Wright’s legacy remains as one of the greatest minds of Bedford.