Oxford Area School District

Distinguished Alumni Class of 2010

Pictured from left are members of the Oxford Area Hgh School Distinguished Alumni Class of 2010: David E. Talbot, Sr., John Slauch accepting the honor on behalf of his brother, Dr. James M. Slauch; Dr. Donna Hooker Topping and David K. Williams. Inductees were presented with handmade wooden bowls created by former teacher Scott Gold.

David K. Willams, Class of 1949

Around Elkton, Maryland, “Doing Business the Williams Way” is a well-known slogan and a principle of treating consumers with dignity and of doing whatever it takes to meet their automotive needs. The creator of the “Williams Way,” David Williams has built successful Chevrolet, Buick and GMC dealerships along Route 40 which serve customers in the tri-state area.

Mr. Williams has also provided leadership to the Elkton area by his major commitments to youth sports, especially baseball, his support of a community bank, and his deep commitment to his church.

Donna Hooker Topping, Class of 1966

Dr. Topping graduated from Oxford Area High School in 1966. She then received her B.S. in elementary education from West Chester State College in 1971.

In 1975 Dr. Topping received her Master's in reading education. She taught in the Oxford Area School District for 22 years, serving as a first grade reading specialist for five years and Supervisor of Reading and Language Arts for 17 years.

Dr. Topping received her Ph. D. in literacy education at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. She taught at Lincoln University for five years and is now a full-time Professor of Literacy Education at Millersville University.

Dr. Topping has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses at Millersville for 12 years. She teaches "Teaching in Literacy" in her undergraduate course and "Foundations of Reading and Writing" and "Content Area Reading and Writing" in her graduate courses. In addition, she is co-director of the annual Pennsylvania Writing Institute.

Dr. Topping has written three books: Real Reading, Real Writing: Content Area Strategies, "Getting" Grammar and Stuck in the Middle. These books were co-authored with Oxford Area School District teacher Roberta McManus, whom Dr. Topping has been working with for over 30 years.

Along with writing books, Dr. Topping has also written a number of articles which have been published in professional journals. She has presented papers at conferences in Switzerland, Scotland, Hungary, Italy and Canada.

In 1990 Dr. Topping was named an Outstanding Woman of Achievement in Chester County. She was the first runner up for Outstanding Professor at Lincoln University in 1993.

And aside from all her academic endeavors, Dr. Topping is still the organist at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Oxford. - Jazmyn Hudson, Class of 2010.

James M. Slauch, Class of 1980

Dr. Slauch is an expert in the fields of microbiology, molecular genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry. He has unveiled the secrets of these fields and made vast contributions to the field of science.

Dr. Slauch, currently a professor in the Department of Microbiology and the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and a faculty member of the Institute for Genomic Biology, began his career at Penn State. After obtaining his B.S. from there, he obtained a Ph. D. in molecular biology from Princeton University. His list of publications and research work is too long to mention but Dr. Slauch has been a pioneer in the field of molecular genetics, co-authoring more than 50 publications and receiving one patent.

In 2009, Dr. Slauch led a study that “challenges decades-old assumptions about how immune cells kill bacteria.” This study disproved an age-old theory that macrophages, immune cells which engulf and poison bacteria as well as other pathogens, kill microbes by damaging DNA. Currently Dr. Slauch is working on research involving Salmonella. - Liam Duffy, Class of 2010.

Mark E. Talbot, Class of 1988

After Mr. Talbot graduated from Oxford Area High School in 1988, he chose to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a police officer. His career began as a correctional officer at the Chester County Prison for four years.

In 1994 Mr. Talbot joined the Reading Police Department as a patrol officer. After serving eight years in this position, he became a patrol sergeant and then an investigations sergeant. In addition, he served as vice section lieutenant.

Mr. Talbot has been the deputy police chief of Reading since 2007. He has also been a speaker at an international conference in Baltimore where his topic was driven policing. On top of his extensive resume, he continues to enhance his education by pursuing a degree in organiational leadership at Penn State.

Mr. Talbot's childhood dream has become a reality and has helped many people along the way. - Amanda Cahill, Class of 2010.