Editor’s note: this story was updated May 21, 2026 at 1 p.m. to correct the number of scholarship recipients.
The Berks County Community Foundation honored 235 recipients of $800,950 in scholarships with a luncheon Wednesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Reading.
Among them were the 11 winners of the 2026 Berks’ Best Awards. Those present and the categories they won were William Ferenchick of Wilson, math; Lillian Hoffa of Twin Valley, visual arts; Sloane Wolfe of Twin Valley, communications; Elise “Nox” Clemmens of Gov. Mifflin, social studies; SethToal of Gov. Mifflin, business; Alan “Rocky” Rochlin of Gov. Mifflin, performing arts; Amalia Cannon of Wilson, world languages; Finnegan Miller of Conrad Weiser, science/environment and Colin Brown of Oley Valley, career and technical education.
The Berks’ Best awards are funded by the Hawley and Myrtle Quier Fund and Arrow International Scholarship Fund of Berks County Community Foundation.
Philip Cavalier, who holds a doctorate in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is the 13th president of Kutztown University, was the keynote speaker. He was hired in 2025 and officially installed last month.
Dr. Philip Cavalier, who holds a doctorate in English and is president of Kutztown University, was the keynote speaker Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at the Berks County Community Foundation Scholarship Luncheon. It was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Reading. (Susan E. Miers Smith/Reading Eagle)
“Be present, be present wherever you are,” Cavalier said. “Be open to new experiences.”
He related a story about a student he has written letters of recommendation for numerous times.
He said Jessica Smith had grown up in a rural southern environment much like “The Andy Griffith Show” home town and noted how the students there probably didn’t know who Andy Griffith was, which elicited chuckles from the adults in the audience.
She had never flown before and took a trip Cavalier was chaperoning to New Orleans.
“I still bear the scars from the death grip she had on my arm,” he said.
During her college years Smith changed her major three times, Cavalier said, but finally found what she was destined to do.
He also advised the students to take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad and that if finances were a barrier to that, he would help them find a way to make it happen.
“You can find out a lot about yourself,” Cavalier said.