Mount Union Area Schools

J. Richard Burkholder helped establish Mount Union’s long-running tradition of school music. A February 1943 newspaper column reported that he had supervised music in the Mount Union schools for nine years, independently placing the beginning of his local music service in 1934. The same report recorded that he earned his pilot wings on Thanksgiving Day 1942 at Mount Union Airport, where Brinton H. Hamman and flight instructor Lester Gashaw presented them. Contemporary newspaper coverage later identifies J. Richard as director of the Mount Union High School band by 1946.

Under his direction, the band represented Mount Union beyond the community. An August 1946 report praised its appearance in Chambersburg’s Old Home Week parade, where members first wore blue-and-gold uniforms donated by Simpson-Hunt American Legion Post. His instruction also helped students reach advanced musical opportunities. Mount Union’s Martha Jean “Martye” Awkerman studied under Burkholder before earning first-chair solo cornet honors at the Pennsylvania Schools State Band Competition and a scholarship to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Burkholder’s educational legacy continued through his family. His son Lance later served on the school board, Lance’s wife Mary Alice taught elementary school in the district, and their daughter Gretchen Burkholder Crouse became Mount Union’s elementary band director.

Sources: The Daily News, February 19, 1943, p. 12; Altoona Mirror, August 14, 1946, p. 12; Martha Jean “Martye” Awkerman biography; Gretchen Burkholder Crouse, public statement to the Mount Union Area School Board, community-provided transcript; J. Richard Burkholder memorial.

Hartman taught health and physical education at Mount Union Area Junior-Senior High School for 30 years. A 1966 Huntingdon Area High School graduate, he earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Lock Haven State College in 1971 and a master’s degree in education and administration from the University of Southern California in 1973.

His influence extended across several Trojan athletic programs. Hartman helped develop Mount Union’s track-and-field program and its first track facility, coached boys’ and girls’ track, assisted with junior-high boys’ basketball and wrestling, and became the winningest head football coach in program history. He led the football team from 1986 through 1998, then returned for the 2011 season before illness shortened his second tenure.

Former players and colleagues remembered Hartman as a demanding but deeply committed mentor whose lessons reached beyond athletics. He also advised Student Council for six years. The Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2000.

Sources: Alan M. Hartman obituary; The Sentinel, April 4, 2013; Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

A 1961 Captain Jack High School graduate, Imperioli earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Shippensburg University. After teaching one year in Hollidaysburg, he returned to Mount Union and spent the remainder of his classroom career in the district.

His influence extended to the baseball field, where he led the Trojans from 1973 through 2016. His teams won seventeen District 6 championships and three PIAA state titles, and his 767 career victories made him one of the most accomplished coaches in Pennsylvania high-school baseball history. The Huntingdon County Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 2011.

Read Nick Imperioli’s complete profile →

Sources: Nicholas Imperioli obituary; The Sentinel, April 26, 2025.

Kuehl joined the Mount Union Area School District for the 1973–74 school year, which began September 5, 1973. A 1973 Gettysburg College graduate, he moved to Mount Union that summer and served the district as an instrumental-music teacher for approximately 26 years.

In an oral-history interview preserved by Gettysburg College, Kuehl recalled remaining in Mount Union until 1999. His musical service continued beyond his full-time teaching career; in 2025, he was among the directors of the regional Community Summer Band during its thirty-fourth season of free public concerts.

Sources: “Mount Union Has 8 New Teachers,” The Daily News, September 14, 1973, p. 18; Gettysburg College oral-history interview with John Kuehl, pp. 15–16; The Sentinel, July 15, 2025.

Clifford F. McElrath Jr. was born in McKees Rocks on March 27, 1954, to Clifford F. McElrath Sr. and Helen Stone McElrath. He graduated from West Mifflin South High School in 1972 and earned a degree in agricultural science education from Penn State University in 1976.

Known affectionately to his students as “Mr. Mac,” McElrath devoted his professional life to Mount Union Area High School. At the time of his death, he was in his twenty-eighth year as an agricultural-science and vocational-education instructor. He advised the Captain Jack FFA Chapter and the high school’s Square Dance Team and belonged to both the Pennsylvania and National associations of agricultural educators.

His educational work reached beyond the classroom. McElrath helped conduct the Mid-Atlantic Alliance of Cooperatives’ One-Day Business and Leadership Training Program and established a scholarship fund for Mount Union vocational-agriculture students continuing their education.

McElrath also served on the Huntingdon County Fair board and its junior livestock committee. He helped oversee the stockman contest, tractor-driving competition, youth exhibits in Johnson Hall and numerous livestock exhibits, and he belonged to the Southwest Regional Dairy Show Committee. After his death, the fair established its Premier Showmanship Contest in 2004 and named the traveling trophy in his memory. A memorial scholarship supported by 4-H and FFA members and other contributors also continues his agricultural-education legacy.

His community service included membership in West Mifflin Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 and life membership in the Mapleton Fire Department, where he served as fire chief and treasurer. He helped coordinate fire school through the Central District and Huntingdon County firemen’s associations. McElrath also served the Jack’s Mountain Lions Club as secretary and treasurer and attended the Methodist church in Mapleton.

McElrath died unexpectedly at his Mapleton home on November 25, 2003, at age 49. He was buried in Jefferson Memorial Park near Pittsburgh.

Sources: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review obituary, November 27, 2003; The Daily News, August 14, 2026, pp. A1 and A3; Farm and Dairy, “Mid-Atlantic Alliance of Cooperatives: Gilkinson, Schriver named leaders”.

A 1961 Captain Jack High School graduate, Saulen earned his degree from Shippensburg State College in 1966. After beginning his teaching career in Mifflin County, he returned to the Mount Union Area School District for the 1973–74 term, which began September 5, 1973. He taught social studies and later served as a junior-high guidance counselor until his retirement in 1997.

Sources: “Mount Union Has 8 New Teachers,” The Daily News, September 14, 1973, p. 18; David R. Saulen obituary.

A 1957 Captain Jack High School graduate, Shugarts returned to Mount Union in 1962 and spent nearly four decades teaching mathematics.

His service also extended beyond the mathematics classroom through football coaching and later work as a substitute teacher. The Huntingdon County Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 2009.

Sources: Mount Union school and contemporary newspaper records.

Stasenko joined the Mount Union Area School District’s music faculty in 1962 and retired at the conclusion of the 1996–97 school year, completing approximately 35 academic years of service.

Her musical service also reached into the community. She was an organist and longtime choir participant at First United Methodist Church in Mount Union and served as grand organist of the Pennsylvania Order of the Eastern Star.

Sources: The Daily News, June 28, 1962; The Daily News, April 29, 1997; Ellen L. Stasenko memorial and obituary.

Thomas began teaching at Shirley Township Elementary in 1959. By 1985, she had shared knitting with hundreds of children across 26 years, including every student in the 21-member third-grade class featured by The Daily News.

The tradition began as an enrichment project for a gifted student who needed additional work. Thomas later used knitting to reinforce measurement, counting, reading directions, patience and independent problem-solving. Students worked on their projects during recess, free periods or after completing regular assignments.

Thomas retired in 1993 after 34 years at Shirley Township Elementary. At that year’s sixth-grade graduation ceremony, she was identified as both a teacher and the building coordinator and presented each graduate with a dictionary from the school’s PTO.

Sources: The Daily News, April 12, 1985; The Daily News, June 10, 1993; firsthand classroom recollection supplied by former student Bruce Smith.

Wagner joined the Mount Union Area School District in 1970 as a secondary English teacher. During her 34-year career, she became head of the English Department, mentored students and fellow teachers, and directed school dramatic productions. The district recognized her as Teacher of the Year in 2004, the year she retired.

Her service continued after retirement. Voters elected her to the Mount Union Area School Board in November 2005, and she served through 2017. During those 12 years, she served six years as board president and four years as vice president. She also remained active with the Mount Union Friends of the Library.

Sources: The Daily News, July 14, 1970, p. 7; The Daily News, November 9, 2005; The Daily News, Jane L. Wagner obituary; King-Barr Funeral Home obituary.