SV Wall of Fame inducts musician, ranking state trooper, and longtime teacher, spokesperson
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - From L-R Superintendent Brian Waite, Major Colette Smith, Robert C. Yudinsky, and Andy Ulicny.
SHENANDOAH – Three esteemed members of the Shenandoah Valley community were inducted into the Shenandoah Valley High School Wall of Fame at Friday’s graduation ceremony.
Major Colette Kulpowicz Smith, Robert Nowak, and Robert C. Yudinsky made up the 27th Wall of Fame class since its establishment in 1998.
Andy Ulicny spoke briefly about the history of the wall prior to the induction.
“We eliminated the guest speaker,” Ulicny said. “Instead, we chose to hear from our own. To hear from the very best of Shenandoah graduates.”
“As we honor tonight’s inductees to the Shenandoah Valley Wall of Fame, graduates, consider these special individuals as role models,” Ulicny said. “Aim high in your lives and careers. Always strive to reach your fullest potential. Tonight’s honorees most certainly have.”
Major Colette Kulpowicz Smith, ’91
Major Smith heads the State Police Bureau of Forensic Services. A 1991 Shenandoah Valley graduate, she achieved the third-highest rank in the department earlier this year.
She has been in the department for 23 years.
Smith told the class of her non-linear career path, entering the computer science program at the Schuylkill Technology Center.
“Little did I know at the time how important that decision would be to my future,” Smith said. “I always admired students that knew what they wanted to do after graduation, because I did not.”
She earned a computer science degree at Penn State Schuylkill, worked as an EMT, and dabbled in a nursing program for a semester before entering the computer field.
Ten years after graduation, she began working as a dispatcher for the State Police and decided to apply for the academy.
She has worked in a wide variety of roles for the State Police, including using her computer degree in the Bureau of Communications and Information Services.
Robert A. Nowak, ’69
Nowak, a 1969 graduate, could not make it to the ceremony. Accepting on his behalf was John Shoener, director of bands. Nowak serves as a percussion instructor for the band.
Shoener called Nowak a friend and mentor.
Nowak began his musical career under the direction of Prof. Edward McDermott at the J.W. Cooper Memorial High School.
Shoener read a statement from Nowak, in which he says “I have been able to perform with some of the most talented people in the musical world and have been blessed with students that have gone on to be much more successful than I.”
Nowak has been a percussion professor at Lebanon Valley College and Wilkes University for decades.
As a freelance percussionist, he has performed at essentially every musical venue in eastern Pennsylvania — the State Theatre in Easton, the Scranton Cultural Center, the F.M. Kirby Center, and more.
Robert C. Yudinsky, honorary ’23
Yudinsky is one of only three people to have received an honorary diploma from Shenandoah Valley who did not leave school to serve in World War II, the other two being Ted Twardzik and Jerry Wolman.
“We couldn’t induct him any earlier because he wasn’t a Shenandoah Valley graduate,” Ulicny said. He graduated from Immaculate Heart Academy in Fountain Springs, the predecessor to the defunct Cardinal Brennan High School.
Yudinsky taught and coached at Shenandoah Valley for decades.
Talking to the graduates, Yudinsky described their forthcoming diplomas as their “passport to the future.”
Whatever path they choose to chart, “I only wish that you select a career that provides you with as much fulfillment as I experienced in my 36 years as a teacher.”
“The idea of honoring alumni during graduation was conceived to assure our graduating seniors that they are not at a disadvantage coming from a small school,” Yudinsky said. “If further assurance is required, I suggest you scan the impressive array of alumni enshrined on our Wall of Fame.”
Yudinsky retired in 2007 and has continued to serve the district as public relations director.
When awarded his honorary diploma, then-school board President Dan Salvadore said “He is the spirit and soul of Shenandoah Valley. His blood runs blue and he’s done everything [here.]”
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