Meg Boeni Receives Second Annual Casey Feldman Foundation Cappies Scholarship
By Dianne L. Anderson
R to L: Scholarship recipient Meg Boeni, SHS Teacher & Theater Director, John Gildea and Chris Price, 2011 Casey Feldman Recipient
Meg Boeni of Unionville High School in Chester County, PA was awarded the 2012 second annual Casey Feldman Foundation Cappies scholarship at the Seventh Annual Greater Philadelphia Critics and Awards Program for High School Students, commonly known as the Cappies.
The Cappies is an international program through which high school theater and journalism students are trained as critics, attend theatrical productions and musicals at other high schools, write reviews of the shows and publish those reviews in local newspapers. Students vote on the winners, who are announced at the Cappies Gala, which is patterned after Broadway’s Tony Awards program.
Production numbers and dramatic scenes are performed, interspersed this year with 42 Cappies presentations made by teachers, principals, superintendents and others from high schools in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey at the Greater Philadelphia Cappies Gala. The Greater Philadelphia Cappies, with 34 participating high schools in the region, is second in size only to the program in Washington, D.C., where the Cappies started in 1999.
SHS student Cappies winners, Bridget Elise Yingling – Best Featured Actress in a Play and James Cella -Senior Male Critic Award
In 2005, The Greater Philadelphia chapter was established and Casey became the first lead critic from Springfield High School (SHS). Casey acted in 6 theatrical productions during her high school years and was nominated for a Cappie herself at the 2006 Gala. Casey played Gwendolyn Pidgeon in the Odd Couple and accepted the 2006 Cappie on behalf of the entire SHS cast that year for Best Play. In 2010, Casey was awarded an Honorary Cappie, which was accepted by her parents at the Gala that year.
Casey’s Springfield High School theater director and teacher, John Gildea, nominated Meg Boeni this year to receive the Casey Feldman scholarship and presented the award at the Gala. In nominating Ms. Boeni, Mr. Gildea pointed out that Meg has starred in musicals and plays at her school, has been a nominee for Undergraduate Female Critic, a recipient of the Comic Actress in a Play Cappie Award, and director of her school’s May Play Society; she has participated in the Walnut Street Theatre student-writing program, has taken a dual enrollment course at Immaculata College, in addition to an online course to learn Arabic at BYU in an effort to further her journalism repertoire. All of this was accomplished while maintaining a 4.19 GPA in high school.
Casey Feldman and Matt Thornton arriving at the 2006 Cappies Gala
In presenting the award, Mr. Gildea stated,
“However, her most important trait is that of community service, which is exactly what Casey excelled in during her lifetime. Tonight’s recipient is heavily involved in her church’s Migrant Ministry, in particular the Ignited Youth Program which sponsors the Bilingual Puppet Ministry. In this program, tonight’s recipient does outreach to the migrant and elementary communities, teaching the stories of the Bible as well as lessons on bullying and other important life lessons, using both her Spanish and English skills. She also involves herself in Good Neighbors Projects, the Girls Scouts, her school’s National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society to conduct community-service oriented projects.”
Meg was surprised, grateful and humbled to receive the Casey Feldman Cappies Scholarship which is being put to good use at Boston University, where Meg is now enrolled as a freshman majoring in journalism.
Congratuations Meg!
Contribute to the Casey Feldman Foundation so that additional deserving students may receive scholarship opportunities.
Related Links:
YouTube Video – Greater Philadelphia Cappies 2012 Nominations
“High school stage stars honored at Cappies Gala”, The Daily Times
“Chris Price Receives First Casey Feldman Foundation Cappies Scholarship Award”, Casey Feldman Foundation News & Updates
“Casey Feldman Awarded an Honory Cappie; SHS Laramie Project Cast Wins Awards at the Cappies”, Casey Feldman Foundation News & Updates
Photos of Casey’s high school performances and the 2006 Cappies
“SHS theater family remembers beloved actress”, The News of Delaware County
