The Janet B. Wentz award for Outstanding English Student is an annual $5,000 cash award to a graduating senior at Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School (MASH) who is about to matriculate at a college or university located anywhere in the United States or District of Columbia.
The award was established to honor Janet B. Wentz, a graduate of Wilson College and Shippensburg University who started her career as a staff writer for the Harrisburg Patriot News and then taught for 23 years at MASH from 1965 to 1988 where she was coach of the speech team and retired as chairwoman of the English department. She later emerged from retirement to teach English for several additional years at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC).
She had a passion for teaching and shared her enthusiasm for the English language while encouraging her students to excel. Her son, Douglas Wentz, MASH Class 1976, made a $150,000 contribution upon her passing at age 97 in January 2025 to establish this award program.