| FEATURE STORY FALL 2003... |
FIRST TRUSTEE SCHOLARSHIP MAKES HISTORY
Deborah Newell Duffield
Deborah Newell Duffield leads an extraordinary life. Extraordinary because her basic goodness produces actions that give hope and opportunity to those too often overlooked by others.
 In the 30 years since her graduation from Penn State with a degree in education, Deborah Duffield has championed the rights of children with learning disabilities, traveled overseas on missions for her church, and provided financial assistance through endowed scholarships to college students at three institutions. She also regularly demonstrates her love of animals as a volunteer at the Blair County Wildlife Rehabilitation Center outside Bellwood, PA.
A native of Bethlehem, PA, Duffield settled in Blair County in 1973 when she accepted a position with Intermediate Unit 8, teaching children with learning disabilities in the Tyrone Area School District. After serving the Tyrone District for five years and the Bellwood Area School District for ten, and with her marriage to husband, William, and the birth of son, Matthew, Duffield decided the time was right to retire in 1987.
Although she resides only 15 minutes from the Penn State Altoona campus, Duffield never had a direct connection with the College until 2000 when she established a scholarship to benefit Penn State Altoona undergraduates from Blair County who are in need of financial assistance. First preference for the scholarship is given to students who are pursuing a degree in special education.
Recently, Duffield became the first individual to create a Trustee Scholarship at Penn State Altoona. The Trustee Scholarship Program was established in 2002 by the University with a goal of raising $100 million in privately endowed scholarships over five years. The University will match five percent of gifts or pledges made in support of this program at the campus or college of the donor's choice.
"It is my hope that the creation of this first Trustee Scholarship by Debbie will inspire others to do the same," said N. Susan Woodring, Director of Development and Alumni Relations. "One does not necessarily need to be wealthy to be philanthropic, but one must be committed to an idea or believe in a compelling issue to make this type of significant gift."
Duffield said the two scholarship endowments simply symbolize her desire to help students pursuing a Penn State education at the campus closest to her home. In late September, Duffield was inducted into Penn State Altoona's Ivyside Society during a ceremony in the Community Arts Center. The Ivyside Society was established by the Penn State Altoona Advisory Board in 1987 to honor those who, through their philanthropic support and leadership, share a commitment to the continuing excellence of Penn State Altoona.
"The Trustee Scholarship that Debbie Duffield has established at Penn State Altoona is our first such endowment," said Dr. William G. Cale, Jr., CEO and Dean. "Debbie shares in our vision to provide educational opportunity to talented students, and to create and sustain a College environment of outstanding quality. Penn State Altoona's history has been written by committed members of our community, people like Debbie Duffield. We are excited about this scholarship and the bright future it will open to our students."
Continuing her support of education, this spring Duffield begins a position as volunteer coordinator of the Penn State Altoona Lion Ambassadors Reads Program. With the cooperation of elementary school administrators and teachers in the area, the Lion Ambassadors will make scheduled classroom visits to read a selection of books to students. She recounted an experience that demonstrates the point.
In her very first year in the Tyrone Area School District, Duffield taught a child with spina bifida. The fourth-grader was wheelchair-bound and her medical condition required use of a catheter. When Duffield learned that the child was not to be included in a trip to the high school for a special assembly, she made inquiries and learned that the decision was based on concerns over access and transportation. Determined not to see the young girl left behind, Duffield carried the child—and the wheelchair—to and from the bus throughout the trip, while male colleagues only watched.
 For Duffield, gratification from teaching special education classes came in two forms: the documented progress of students under her tutelage and letters of praise and thanks from parents.
"In the seventies, you still had to fight for every inch you could get for those kids," Duffield said. "I saved the letters that I would receive. Those were worth more than any paycheck. Those are what you lived for."
Duffield truly was dedicated to her profession and her students. As a member of the lowest-paid Intermediate Unit in the state, she skipped her lunch periods to offer extra instruction, met students before and after school, and even instructed parents on how to work with their children at home. Duffield's exemplary work ethic and compassion for others are traits that link generations of her family members. Her grandfather, Olbert Clark Noble had only a second or third-grade education when he walked barefoot to apply for his first job. He eventually became president of Tygart Valley Glass Company in Western Pennsylvania, but still returned home at night with the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up and grease on his forearms.
Duffield's parents, John and Frances Newell, both were college graduates. John, a graduate of both the Washington and Jefferson College and the Kansas City College of Osteopathy and Surgery, was a physician. Frances was a graduate of Ithaca College in New York where she studied English and drama. In his first practice in Honey Brook, PA, Dr. Newell allowed patients to barter for his services. It was not uncommon for individuals to arrive at the office with farm animals or home-grown products. Soon, Bethlehem became permanent home to the Newells and their two daughters, eldest Kathy and Deborah.
Through the creation of scholarships, Duffield has found the vehicles through which she not only can honor her parents and grandparents, but also assist others in a fashion that would have been very pleasing to them. Olbert and Katherine Noble were very generous to their church, institutions of higher learning, and people in need. They once provided the funds needed to construct a church in West Virginia. "They were very giving people," Duffield remembered. "They just gave and gave and gave."
In an act of philanthropy that she knew would please her grandparents, Duffield created a scholarship at Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, TN, in 2002. The year before, she endowed a scholarship in the College of Humanities at Ithaca College, to honor her mother. Duffield has been in discussions with administrators at the University of Health Sciences, formerly the Kansas City College of Osteopathy and Surgery, concerning the creation of a scholarship in memory of her father.
Duffield is very active in church-related programs. A member of the choir and Sunday School teacher at First Church of Christ, she also serves as treasurer of the Altoona Christian Women's Association and is taking classes at the Altoona Bible Institute.
Duffield has journeyed to Scotland to participate in a Vacation Bible School program and, in December, she will be traveling to Romania to distribute gift boxes through Operation Christian Child, a ministry of Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. The boxes are shoe boxes that contain personal care items such as toothbrushes and combs, as well as gloves, scarves, crayons, coloring books, construction paper and small toys.
The caring nature that has benefited so many for so long can be traced to Duffield's childhood. After Deborah's figure skating lessons, Mrs. Newell invariably found her youngest daughter off in a corner sharing pointers with slower learners.
And passionate about horses from the time she could take her first steps, Duffield was told by her father, when she was 12 and after a year of riding lessons, that she could have her own horse. She selected a horse—a thoroughbred she named Tammy—that was, quite simply, terrified of people. In an early demonstration of her special abilities, and to the utter astonishment of skilled handlers, Duffield transformed Tammy into a show horse.
"I loved horses from the first day I could walk," stated Duffield, who won numerous awards for her riding and showing of horses. "I drew horses. All my knick knacks were horses. I rode every day from age 10 through high school."
Today, Duffield owns a solid Appaloosa named B.J., which she said looks like "a very nice quarterhorse," along with two dozen Rhode Island reds, six dogs, two barn cats, a duck and a goose. And just as she did 30 years ago, when she saw her chance to provide that child in the wheelchair with an opportunity for development, Duffield continues to create paths where once there were only obstacles.
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