Penn-Trafford student, teacher recognized in Cornell scholarship program

When Jeffrey Backus was given an opportunity to recognize a high school teacher who impacted him, Stephanie Bruggeman was the obvious choice.

Backus, a 2019 Penn-Trafford graduate, was among 43 students selected for Cornell University’s Merrill Presidential Scholars Program. The program, created in 1988, recognizes the top 1% of each graduating class — acknowledging the students’ academic achievement, leadership and desire to leave a positive impact.

The students select a high school teacher who played an influential role in their success at the university. One-time $4,000 scholarships are created in honor of these teachers and given to future Cornell students from their high school or hometown area.

The teachers and students were honored at a ceremony at the university on May 23.

Backus, of Penn Township, had Bruggeman for two calculus classes. She went “above and beyond” in encouraging his curiosity of the subject, he said.

“To me, (Ms. Bruggeman) was always very encouraging, just in general, toward my explorations beyond what the class entailed,” Backus said. “It was a very ‘You can do it’ mindset.”

Bruggeman, who has taught at Penn-Trafford for 16 years, was shocked when she received news of the scholarship via an email from Backus in March.

“I think I closed my laptop,” Bruggeman, of Delmont, said. “I don’t want to say teaching is a thankless job, because it’s not, but you don’t often get something like that.”

Bruggeman was moved by the recognition. She sent emails to her college and high school calculus teachers when she returned home to thank them for their impact on her life.

“Jeffrey was the all-star student — participated, loved school, loved math,” Bruggeman said. “I never questioned that I was getting through to him. It just didn’t seem like he needed me. He was brilliant.”

Because of Bruggeman’s encouragement, Backus felt prepared for the workload associated with his physics and math degrees at Cornell.

“Calculus is every day for me,” Backus said. “There’s not a day I get up where I’m not doing integrals or derivatives.”

As he embarks on a doctorate degree in theoretical physics at Princeton, Bruggeman’s teaching continues to influence him, he said.

“Calculus describes things that move along curves continuously…That’s roughly what we see in the natural world,” Backus said. “When I throw a ball, it follows a nice, smooth path. In order to describe anything to do with smooth paths, you need the language of calculus.”

But Backus also left an impact on Bruggeman.

“I always felt like Jeffrey was a student who, the questions that he asked, I had to really think about things to come up with a good answer or I had to do research before I could have an answer for him,” she said. “I always feel like he taught me how to do things better.”