MISS ABINGTON IS CROWNED THE 2026 PENNSYLVANIA STATE LAUREL QUEEN, MISS MILLVILLE IS FIRST RUNNER-UP, MISS MIFFLINBURG IS SECOND RUNNER-UP AND MISS DUBOIS IS MISS CONGENIALITY

• 

  Photo by Julia DeCamp- Miss Abington, Madeline Krassner is the 2026 Pennsylvania State Laurel Queen.

• 

  Photo by Julia DeCamp

“My first reaction - but I don’t think it was audible - was I incrementally screamed,” said Miss Madeline Krassner, the newly crowned 2026 Pennsylvania State Laurel Queen, daughter of Kathryn Duffy and Aaron Krassner of Abington in Montgomery County. “I just didn’t expect it, especially with the amount of amazing women here. I am just lucky that I was even among them, let alone to actually be chosen as the Laurel Queen. It was just such a shock and such an honor."

She was selected by four judges from a field of 22 candidates representing high schools across Pennsylvania and crowned on Saturday, June 20 in the auditorium at the Wellsboro Area School District Administration building at 227 Nichols Street by last year’s queen, Miss Alice Ravert, a 2026 graduate of Montoursville Area High School in Lycoming County.

As queen, Miss Krassner was awarded a $3,000 educational scholarship and will return to attend other events in the community, including next year’s festival to crown her successor.

The coronation ceremony is always one of the highlights of the Laurel Festival, hosted in Wellsboro for 84 years. It was first held in 1938.

“Just the idea that I could meet and connect with girls from all over Pennsylvania in Wellsboro was such a cool opportunity, I couldn’t deny it. I had to come and I am so glad Dr. Wormley, assistant principal at Abington, presented it to me. She is someone I strongly respect and look up to, so it meant a lot that she was the one helping me with this process.

"Abington is right outside of Philadelphia," she said. "I think I’m the first in a very long time to come to Wellsboro from Abington.” According to Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce records, Miss Krassner is the first student from Abington to be crowned Laurel Queen.

“The girls had been to smaller schools with a graduating class of like 22 students. Abington graduated 750. Talking about our shared but different experiences brought us together,” Miss Krassner said.

“One of my favorite memories from this weekend was when we went to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, which was awesome. I never even knew there was a PA Grand Canyon. It was jaw-dropping.”

This fall, Miss Krassner will be attending Temple University’s Honors College for high-achieving students with a double major in English and Media & Communications. Her career goal is to become an English teacher for 11th or 12th grade students and maybe college level, and a writer.

All four years of high school, Miss Krassner was on the Distinguished Honor Roll and earned the President’s Service Award for Community Service each year. As a freshman, she founded the Lead with Love Club in honor of her eighth grade English teacher and served as its president as a sophomore, junior and senior. The club’s focus is on building community and providing community services. The group grew from a handful of students to 60.

She was a four-year member of Key Club (freshman-board member and senior-president) and of the staff of “The Abingtonian,” the school newspaper (freshman-writer, sophomore and junior-arts and entertainment editor, and senior-news and community editor). Miss Krassner served on the School Climate Committee, the Anti-Bullying Committee, and the No Place For Hate Committee and was a volunteer at the Abington Library and the Briar Bush Nature Center and in 2024 earned the nature center's “Youth Volunteer of the Year Award.”

As a sophomore, junior and senior, she was a board member of her school’s Amnesty International chapter and member of Friends Against Drugs and Alcohol and Bird Club. Miss Krassner volunteered at Camp Intervention, a weeklong STEM camp at Copper Beach in Abington, her freshman, junior and senior years.

As a junior and senior, she was a member of the National Honor Society and the National English Honor Society (president as a senior); participated in Link Crew, where juniors and seniors serve as mentors to incoming freshmen; and was a member of the Quilting Club, and the Female Empowerment Club of America. She was also an Abington Ambassador, which is an internship focusing on social media and public relations for Abington Senior High School.

As a senior, Miss Krassner was a member of the Abington Senior High School Homecoming Court, and, as a junior, a member of the National Art Honor Society and awarded the Abington Outstanding Junior English Student. As a sophomore and junior, she was a mentor in the “Abington Leads by Example” program.

Ella Shultz of Millville Junior-Senior High School, daughter of Dezeray and Seth Shultz of Greenwood Township in Columbia County, was named first runner-up and will receive a $1,500 educational scholarship. This fall, she will be a senior at Millville High. Following graduation from high school in 2027, Miss Shultz plans to enter the military and then attend Penn State University and major in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Spanish to earn a Bachelor of Science degree. Her career goal is to become a livestock veterinarian for local farms. As a freshman, sophomore and junior, she was Class of 2027 historian; a member of her school's marching and concert band, chorus and Future Farmers of America chapter; and had an acting role in each of her school’s musical productions. In her junior year, she was a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish National Honor Society and the Library Club and earned the Keystone Degree, the highest honor awarded to an FFA member at the state level in Pennsylvania. As a sophomore and junior, Miss Shultz was a member of Aevidum, a nationwide student organization focused on mental health; treasurer of both the band and chorus; was FFA secretary and treasurer as a sophomore and president as a junior; and was a member of Student Council as a sophomore and secretary as a junior.

Named second runner-up and the recipient of a $1,000 educational scholarship was Miss Laurel Ramsey of Mifflinburg Area High School, the daughter of Amanda Gessner of Kelly Township in Union County. This fall, Miss Ramsey will pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Extension Education at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona campus. “I want to teach agriculture to high school students and serve as an FFA advisor. My career goal is to make a difference in students’ lives. My FFA advisors helped me discover who I really am and I hope to do the same for others.” She was selected to be speaker at large and graduated cum laude from high school. All four years of high school, Miss Ramsey achieved High Honor Roll and was a four-year member of the Mifflinburg Future Farmers of America (FFA) Chapter (freshman-assistant secretary, sophomore-secretary, junior-student advisor, senior-vice president; every year earned first place in public speaking, junior-placed second in Northern Region for extemporaneous public speaking); of the Mifflinburg Track and Field Team (pole vault, javelin, disc, shot put; every year qualified for League Championships and earned a varsity letter; junior-qualified for districts; senior-team captain and awarded the prestigious “Wildcat Award” at this year’s end-of-season track and field program banquet recognizing her as a standout athlete and for her outstanding dedication, work ethic, and overall contribution to the team); and of the Mifflinburg Varsity Fall Cheer Squad (back spot and base; junior-captain, every year earned a varsity letter). As a sophomore, junior and senior, Miss Ramsey was a member of the Cat’s United Club; as a junior and senior, a member of her school’s National Honor Society chapter and RISE Club; and as a sophomore was Union County West End Fair Princess and as a junior, West End Fair Queen. She was team manager of the Mifflinburg Men’s Wrestling team as a sophomore, and as a junior created the Mifflinburg Women’s Wrestling team for her school and wrestled at 155 pounds, placing second at the winter classic tournament.

Grace Reynolds of DuBois Area High School, the daughter of Carrie and Jeramie Reynolds of DuBois, by vote of the other queen candidates, was chosen Miss Congeniality and awarded a $500 educational scholarship.

In addition to Laurel Queen Madeline Krassner, first and second runners-up, Miss Millville, Ella Shultz and Miss Mifflinburg, Laurel Ramsey, and Miss Congeniality, Miss DuBois, Grace Reynolds, the 10 semi-finalists included: Miss Cowanesque Valley, Madalynn Bailey; Miss Montoursville, Rowan Fortin; Miss Williamson, Abigail Schwartz; Miss Towanda, Caedence Wells; Miss South Williamsport, Natalya Betz; and Miss Williamsport, Kyla Becker.