‘Truly honored and very humbled’: Penn-Trafford nurse selected as grand marshal for township fall festival

Lisa Popovich was selected as a grand marshal for the Penn Township Fall Festival in 2008 for her efforts to bring a new, inclusive playground to McCullough Elementary.

But when her mother-in-law died unexpectedly the night before the parade, she had to step down.

Now, 15 years later, Popovich will have the opportunity again to serve as marshal — the festival planning committee citing her passion for helping others.

Popovich, who has been a nurse in the Penn-Trafford School District for 14 years, received in April the Southwest Region School Nurse Excellence Award from the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners.

She and six other regional nurses will be up for the 2024 Nurse of the Year Award.

This caught the eye of the Penn Township Fall Festival planning committee.

“She cries with these kids in very desperate times,” said Laurie Koehn, the festival’s special events coordinator. “And she laughs and tries to smooth the waters when they have issues with kids bullying. They’ll send kids down to her and she has them work together.”

Popovich, a Penn Township resident of 27 years, said she was “floored” when she received the call from the festival committee.

“I’m truly, truly honored and very humbled,” Popovich said. “I don’t feel like I deserve anything.”

In addition to her duties as a nurse, Popovich is the head of the high school’s Community Action Program, which connects students with volunteer and service opportunities.

She volunteers at the Westmoreland Food Bank and leads Penn-Trafford’s Backpack Program, a supplemental nutrition program that provides students a backpack containing meals and snacks every two weeks.

At her church, she is a Sunday school teacher for children from first through fifth grade.

Popovich also announces for eight sports in the district — boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, boys volleyball, track and field, baseball and softball. She even steps up to sing the National Anthem before games if a student cannot make it.

“I love helping in any way that I can,” Popovich said. “I just truly believe that we as a society need to do what we can to help, especially the kids, in our community. … We need to be the people that can help if we are capable.”

Popovich looks forward to seeing members of the community, supporting local businesses and learning about what local organizations are up to at the festival this year. She will ride in the grand marshal car alongside her two children, Nicholas and Natasha.

“I love this community. This community has been so incredible for my family as my kids have been growing up. I’ve lived here now for 27 years, and this is my home,” Popovich said. “I’m blessed that I get to give back and do that for others like they have for me.”