Samuel A. Brattini – SHS Graduate 1983 – Arts HOF

Sam’s interest in television began at Springfield High School while in a group of students who broadcast school sporting events on the fledgling American Cablevision Community Channel in the early 1980s.  

After graduating from SHS, Sam received Communication Arts and English degrees from Villanova University in 1987. He immediately began his career in television production at EJ Stewart Studios in Primos, PA, where he worked as a studio camera operator on several popular shows that aired on Discovery Networks, including “Home Matters” and “Epicurious.”

Sam began working at CCI Communications in West Chester, PA, where he helped produce the “Great Sports Debate,” a popular local sports talk show.  For 10 seasons, Sam wrote and produced the season highlight and recruiting video for Villanova University’s Football team.  

 Sam began his freelance network camera career in 1994 and has made sports television his career and passion for the past thirty-plus years. Since then, Sam has covered live professional and college sporting events around the globe, working for companies such as ABC /ESPN, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and Fox Sports networks.  

Sam has covered some significant events, including the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Super Bowls, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals, World Series, NCAA Tournament, Summer and Winter X Games, International Soccer, and The Masters in Augusta, GA, for the last 19 years, to name a few!

In addition, Sam, a die-hard Philly sports fan, has been part of the broadcast team covering Phillies, Flyers, Sixers, and Eagles games, as well as Philadelphia college sports, for over three decades.

Sam has won 9 Sports Emmy Awards for his camerawork on various live sporting events, receiving the same statues as the Prime Time Emmy winners.

For over 25 years, Sam has been an active member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET). 

Sam lives in Springfield with his four children and their mother, Jeannie.  All four children, Sammy, and triplets, Michael, Bridget, and Nicholas, are Springfield High School graduates.  Sam is exceptionally proud of them and proud to have received this honor from Springfield High School.

Joseph Fraatz – SHS Graduate 2002 – Arts HOF

Joseph Fraatz was born in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, as the eldest of two children raised by Carol and Ron Fraatz, with his younger sister Kristen completing the family. Joe is the son of a skilled carpenter and the grandson of a cabinetmaker and shop foreman. He graduated from SHS in 2002, where he dedicated two intensive years to studying Industrial Materials, accumulating countless hours in classroom instruction and practical lab work. His high school achievements include winning a Best of Show award at the 2002 Celebration of the Arts and two teacher awards for being the Most Organized Student and the Hardest Working Student. Additionally, he secured third place in black and white photography that same year.

In 2006, Joe proudly graduated from Bloomsburg University with a degree in History. He then joined Berwyn Builder as a carpenter and site foreman. As demand for his woodworking and construction expertise grew, it became clear that running his business part-time was no longer sustainable, prompting him to leave Berwyn Builder in 2017 and launch Joseph Fraatz Custom Carpentry.

Joe's Project specialties encompass kitchens, bathrooms, basements, additions, windows, doors, decks, woodworking, and various built-ins. All are characterized by a custom touch and meticulous attention to detail—hallmarks of a Best of Show winner from the Industrial Materials Program. He has relished the opportunity to tackle unique projects that others could not, finding joy in the challenges that allow his personal touch to shine.

Over the years, his business has flourished, serving thousands of commercial and residential clients. Employing high school students as summer helpers has not only enabled Joe to manage a demanding workload but also allowed him to impart his knowledge to future homeowners and tradespeople. This past year, he enjoyed working alongside Varya Makhalova, a fellow Best of Show winner from 2022.

Joe takes great joy in his work. He rises each day eager to embrace the challenges ahead and savors the accomplishment that accompanies completing every project.

Throughout his journey, Joe experienced significant personal milestones. He married the love of his life, Monica, in 2010, and their family expanded with the birth of their daughter Casey in 2013, followed by their son Chip in 2019.

George M. Trout – SHS Teacher 1987-2022 – Arts HOF

George Trout Jr. was born in York, PA, and credits his parents, George Sr. & Chi Chi, for every imaginable success in his life, as they were forever supportive, encouraging, and inspiring. Having a baseball announcer father, George grew up in a baseball stadium atmosphere, as did his five close siblings. Whether he was in uniform or a Baltimore Orioles press box, it was an amazing and star-studded baseball childhood that George still cherishes. At 5 years old, George became captivated by watching an older carpenter work in their home and proceeded to shadow a kind man named Reynolds Waltemyer all summer. His fascination with woodworking grew until he pursued a technology degree at Millersville University. Graduating in December 1986, George thought he'd wait a year to pursue teaching, but as destiny proved, he received a call from Springfield and was in the classroom three weeks later. George experienced culture shock that first semester but was guided by mentor Principal Earl Knorr and his new brothers and colleagues Dave Ash and Bob Preston. The first years had many challenges, as facilities and his skills needed revamping. Fortunately, with administrative support, much trust from Mr. Knorr, and countless hours of practice and experimentation, the program began showing promise. George's students initiated a recruitment system that increased enrollment from 28 students to a high of 165, with a waiting list of 200 some years. By the mid-1990s, projects improved in quality and artistry, and the annual "Celebration of the Arts" exhibition drew thousands of community members, woodworkers, and news personnel. In 1997, Matt Owens became the first Industrial Materials student published in a magazine...this continued for decades, as George and hundreds of students had articles and projects published 36 times in national and international publications as far away as Australia. The program was also featured 3 times on television and at the 2004 and 2010 Philadelphia Furniture Shows, named the best of its kind nationally among high schools and colleges. 

Although he has gained professional accolades, George is most proud of the success of the Industrial Materials family, and he is pleased to be involved with committees such as the National Honor Society, Springfield Area Educational Foundation, and GSA with Christine Belton. He is very proud to have never missed a day in 36 years of education...but he is most proud of the hundreds of people with whom he still corresponds and shares meaningful, heartfelt conversations...decades after they left his classroom.

Pamela Whitman – SHS Graduate 1980 – Arts HOF

Flutist Pamela Whitman formed the nonprofit organization Compassionate Heart Productions in 1989. They aim to produce and tour quality arts productions that promote peace through intercultural understanding.

Pamela’s productions for live, radio, and television audiences have touched audiences around the world through such diverse outlets as Nepal Television, Carnegie Hall in New York, The Himalayan Hard Rock Café, The House of Blues in Hollywood, Native American Reservations, the Rainforest of Costa Rica, Peru, and Spiritual Centers and Performing Arts Centers in the United States, Nepal, and China. She performs on a collection of ethnic flutes and uses natural and electronic special effects.

Whitman created and directed the multicultural, world-rock band WorldColor, which toured nationally for fourteen years. The band united musicians from around the globe and educated audiences about world cultures.

She led the band in a three-year cultural exchange project with the Kingdom of Nepal, which was the subject of a “Young Asia” television documentary that aired in seventeen countries. In 2002, Artists for a Better World honored Pamela in an international award ceremony in Hollywood for her humanitarian work as an artist. In 2022, she toured rural Peru twice with the country’s top Pan-Flutist. That December, they played Christmas concerts and gave out toys and refreshments to children in need.

In 2024, she collaborated with Dakota Flutist Bryan Akipa on a tour of ten tribal schools throughout South Dakota. This year, the National Endowment of the Arts has awarded her nonprofit a Challenge America Grant. Whitman and Akipa will perform an arts residency on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. They will perform for the Hopi tribal schools and give an outdoor concert on Second Mesa for the general population.

In 2024, she collaborated with India’s virtuoso tabla player Samir Chatterjee in a concert residency throughout Cape May County. This year, her jazz ensemble is hosting guest flutists from New York and Philadelphia to collaborate in an artists’ residency in Cape May County.

Pamela enjoys playing classical favorites by the sea in the Ocean City Pops Orchestra, where she has been the Principal Flutist since 1898. She earned a degree in Flute Performance from the University of Michigan. She is an active recording artist, and a published author.