SAHS Distinguished Alumni
Our Distinguished Alumni Award is our way of recognizing truly outstanding alumni for their academic, professional, and/or community achievements.
Some Examples of a Deserving Candidate Might Include:
• Accomplishments and honors earned while in high school.
• Job related exemplary achievement and/or noteworthy record.
• Personal accomplishments and honors earned post high school graduation.
• Work in and impact on community (local, state, and/or national level).
• Demonstrated leadership and positive role modeling.
Nominate a Distinguished Alumni Today
2026
Art Maurer, Class of 1960, Jatoya Troutman, Class of 2006, Louise Reggia Lynn, Class of 1962, Brandan Longacre, Class of 2000 were honored as the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Recipients.
Art Maurer - Class of 1960
The most senior of our 2026 recipients is Art Maurer. After High School, Art graduated from Penn State and then earned his Doctorate in Food Science from Cornell University. He joined the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in 1970.
At CALS he taught poultry science and lectured in food science and meat and animal science courses. While at CALS, he made major contributions in the development and administration of the 13-state Midwest Undergraduate Poultry Science Center of Excellence and received their Outstanding Advisor Award in 1991. His research interests focused on poultry products technology including processing, preservation, quality, marketing, and product development. His lab developed a number of processed poultry and meat products.
Art’s international impact began for himself and his students with his doctoral research at the University of the Philippines which included dehydration of food and poultry meat while teaching food dehydration and freezing in the Agricultural Chemistry department. He also taught and conducted research in laboratories and food science programs in Australia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, and Argentina. He was a member of a number of national and worldwide Poultry Science and Food Technologists Associations Art Maurer sadly passed away in 1998.
Jatoya Troutman - Class of 2006
Our second 2026 recipient is Jatoya Troutman. After graduating from Selinsgrove Area High School and studying cosmetology through SUN Area Technical Institute, Jatoya spent over 15 years behind the chair building relationships, serving clients, and becoming deeply connected to her community.
Raised by her grandparents and coming from a large family, Jatoya learned early how important support, connection, and showing up for people can be. Those values have been carried into every part of her life, from her blended family to the businesses and community spaces she has helped build. She never intended to become a business owner. Instead, entrepreneurship found her through the people, opportunities, and needs around her.
In 2021 Jatoya and co-owner Erica Amato opened Stack'D Fit. What began as a fitness business quickly became a community where people build confidence, friendships, and healthier lives. In 2023 Diversified Vibez Salon and Spa was established alongside Kelsey Ritter and Lori Reichenbach, creating a welcoming environment built on good vibes, good people, and helping clients feel confident and cared for. Jatoya recently joined her aunt, Cyndi Romig, as a partner in The Barn on the Hill, an event venue designed to bring people together to celebrate life's important moments. Most recently, Jatoya partnered with Erica Amato and Veronica John to open The Burn Bar, a mat studio focused on movement, strength, and community.
As a mother, bonus mom, business owner, and active member of the Selinsgrove area, Jatoya believes relationships matter more than titles and that strong communities are built when people feel supported and connected.
In 2025, she was recognized as one of Inside Pennsylvania's 40 Under 40 for her leadership and community impact. The common thread that inspires Jatoya in all her endeavors is her belief in community involvement, maintaining an affirming atmosphere, and promoting personal fitness and wellness.
Although she has helped build multiple businesses, Jatoya would tell you that her greatest accomplishment is the community that has grown around them. Whether through fitness, beauty, movement, or events, her goal has always remained the same: creating places where people feel welcome and where people belong.
Louise Reggia Lynn - Class of 1962
The third of our 2026 recipients is Louise Reggia Lynn. Upon graduation, Louise attended Williamsport School of Nursing while taking the Science classes at Lycoming College. After earning her Graduate Degree from the School of Nursing, she headed to Washington, DC for a job at Georgetown Univ. Hospital.
While working and raising a family in DC., she continued to volunteer with her artwork and flowers for events, worked for flower shops, went to floral design school and ran a flower business from her home. Soon she consulted a Career Counselor and found her interests to be design, the arts and business, which verified her goal to open her own flower shop, Chevy Chase Florist, a full-service shop in an upscale area of the city. She organized a floral designers’ association in DC and volunteered on the Washington Cathedral Flower Guild.
She sold the shop after 6 years, to concentrate on her own design work. Her career continued with a B&B business from her historic home, which led to the formation of a B&B Guild in VA. She continued her volunteer work at the Cathedral, also serving as the Hospitality Coordinator as an employee, and expanded the program for event rentals as a Cathedral fundraising job.
In her 30th year on the flower guild , managing 70 volunteers as one of 4 team leaders providing flowers for services, holidays, weddings and funeral for Presidents and other dignitaries, is most rewarding. Life also includes being elected to the Management Board of the large Apartment Complex where she lives and is the Grounds Chair, overseeing the 10-acre property gardens and teaching floral design classes, private work for social occasions, house tours, weddings, ballets and concerts.
Brandan Longacre - Class of 2000
The fourth of our 2026 recipients is Brandan Longacre. His entrepreneurial journey began by helping his grandfather sealcoat driveways on weekends as a way to earn a little extra money which eventually inspired him to build a business of his own. After graduation from high school, Brandan attended trade school through Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 520 before realizing that path wasn’t for him. He went to work in the construction industry with Eastern Industries (now New Enterprise), while continuing to sealcoat driveways on evenings and weekends.
In 2009, he made the decision to leave his full-time job and pursue the business full time, hauling home heating oil during the winter to help support his growing company. As the business grew, Brandan saw an opportunity to provide customers with more complete asphalt services. In 2017, he expanded into paving, followed by concrete and excavation.
During the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, he continued investing in equipment, employees, and the future of the company, decisions that positioned RITEWAY for continued growth. Today, RITEWAY Sealing & Paving has grown from a small sealcoating operation into a full-service contractor employing 35 to 40 people and serving customers throughout an eight-county region providing sealcoating, paving, excavation, concrete, and related services, with nearly all work performed in-house.
Brandan also co-founded Legacy Motors Auto Group in Danville with business partner Andy Long “owner of W&L Subaru” combining his lifelong passion for automobiles with another successful business venture specializing in classic, performance, and specialty vehicles. Brandan credits the success of both businesses to hard work, calculated risk taking, and surrounding himself with talented people. From sealcoating driveways with his grandfather to leading one of the region’s fastest-growing paving companies, his story reflects the value of perseverance, vision, and dedication to his community.