Emerson Elementary & Community Spell Out the Memory of Mike Duncan

On Christmas morning 2012, Michael Duncan Jr of Levittown was a passenger with his sister, in his grandmother’s car when the worst of all tragedies took place.  A two car accident, requiring  Duncan and his sister Stephanie, 16,  to be extricated from the accident by the William Penn Fire Co.

Stephanie was airlifted  to St. Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia and Micheal was taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown, both in what was described as critical condition at the time.

Michael Duncan Jr never recovered from his injuries passing on January 11, 2013.  He was 18 at the time of his death.

18 is far young for anyone to die. And its far to early in life to be forgotten.

By all accounts, the staff Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School in Levittown agrees.

Duncan’s impact on others was on full display earlier this week at the elementary school.

For  the first time in four years, they held a school spelling bee contest.  It was an  honor of the young mans memory.

The week prior classes at the school held their own spelling contests to determine participants for the school championships.

Emerson Principal Terrie Giardine  and Teaching Assistant Cathy Ivins spoke of the schools commitment in celebrating Duncan’s memory during their lunch hour on a rainy Friday afternoon.

Micheal was on the student council when he was a student here they both said and when it came time to revive the school spelling bee it seemed more than appropriate to honor him,  his memory,  and contribution to the school by holding the event in his name, they said.

Ivins, who mentored Duncan while he was on the student council, spoke glowingly about how good of kid he was.

Both shared the school earlier in the year hung wind chimes in a tree out in front of Emerson to also celebrate the young mans memory.

Micheal really liked to work out in the garden in front of the school while he was here, Ivins said, and those wind chimes are there to reflect that.

Giardine and Ivins also shared the continuous involvement of Duncan’s grandmother Donnna Vansant  recognizing her want to keep Duncan’s memory bright and burning among  his friends, teachers, and members of the community who have come to know the story of a young mans life ending so prematurely.

Kimberly Norton, who tipped of LevittowNow about the school honoring Duncan said in a Facebook message to this writer, who lived five houses away from Duncan and his family,  said the community was devastated by losing Duncan and the community continues to mourn.

Vansant, the driver of the car in the accident, said on the phone late Thursday night,  there isn’t a second that goes by where she doesn’t miss her grandson.
I just want the teachers and staff to know how much I appreciate what they’ve done in Michael’s memory. I am so grateful for everything they have done. They are amazing people and I am so grateful they did this for us.

To get a complete picture of  how Mike Duncan impacted the people around him in his short stay here among the ethereal, reading the posts of  those he knew in an open  group dedicated to him on Facebook completes that picture.

As one young woman put it,  in describing  her personal way of expressing her feeling of loss.

“It’s not goodbye, till we meet again.”

The students and staff  of  Emerson Elementary celebrated the spirit of that  idea with its spelling bee to honor and express the memory and loss of Mike Ducan this past week.

Please note that Harry S. Truman, where the Duncan’s attended high school, gave out a $500 scholarship in Duncan’s name to student Jimmy Kovak at its honors night on Wednesday.

To this date, an official cause of accident has yet to be determined.

Below is a complete listing of all the student winners who participated in the Mike Duncan Memorial Spelling Bee 2013

LevittownNow Publisher/Editor Tom Sofield contributed background information for this story 

 

1^st                   Mallory McKeon

2^nd                   Mikayla Adamietz

3^rd                   Ernest Jallah

Finalists         Savaira Abbasi

Evelyn Motz

Aidyn Bungay

Alternates     Olivia Leonhauser

Trinity Brenner

Adrienne Marconi

 

                        Third Grade

1^st                   Christina Lorino

2^nd                   Sanaa Meredith

3^rd                   John Lorandeau

Finalists         Faith Faust

Makayla Hamilton

Faith Crisomia

Alternates     Carleigh Brenner

Brynne Arnoldy

 

                        Fifth Grade

1^st                   Logan Guzzie

2^nd                   Riley Burns

3^rd                   Andrew Johnson

Finalists         Shjon Hall

Kailea Heston

Kyle Posluszny

Alternates:   Rony Berreondo

Christina Armstrong

Lawrence Baldwin

Kevin McCullough

                        Second Grade

1^st                   Mickayla Nguyen

2^nd                   Andrew Armstrong

3^rd                   Layla Becker

Finalists         Alyson Epperson

Anthony Marciano

Jaden Heard

Alternates     Lucas Tyler

Katrina Hager

 

 

Fourth Grade

1^st                   Kaitlyn McCullough

2^nd                   Ernesto Rivera

3^rd                   Aleyna Bektas

Finalists         Kassidy Hoffman

Jadelyn Reistad

Nnamdi Ofoegbu

Alternates     Mara McKeon

Kiara Grant

 

Sixth Grade

1^st                   Alyssa Goldey

2^nd                   Ashley Yates

3^rd                   Kevin Ayala

Finalists         Kiara Graham

Tyler Field

Michael Are

Alternates     Devon Brenner

Jayson Messenger

Bryan Girton

Tommy Black