Lycoming Valley Teen of the Week: Emma Gallew

WILLIAMSPORT — With a passion for science, Emma Gallew hopes to pursue a career in biochemistry. 

A high honor roll student with a 3.96 weighted GPA, Gallew attends St. John Neumann Regional Academy in Williamsport. She has been selected as the Lycoming Valley Teen of the Week.

After taking honors courses in biology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, precalculus and trigonometry and calculus, Gallew is planning on continuing her science-based academics at Pennsylvania State University.

“I really excel in both biology and chemistry and I find it really interesting, just how the way the world works and figuring that out on a molecular level,” Gallew said.


Growing up, Gallew said her parents were always supportive of her, inspiring her through her academics by teaching her the value of hard work.


“I really appreciate that because I feel like, as I’m getting older, hard work is definitely something that is super important,” she said.


However, Gallew said she didn’t spend much time in extracurricular activities until later in her schooling.


“That made me push towards getting myself out there when I was older,” she said. “I wanted to experience a lot of things I didn't when I was younger, just to prepare me for life as an adult.”


Working for a year as a volunteer at St. Joseph the Worker Parish Food Pantry between the end of her middle school days and the beginning of her high school career, Gallew said she was able to develop better social skills.


She worked alongside a group of women from the parish, delivering food items to community members in need.


“(The ladies) taught me important lessons, because they were older and they taught me how to interact with people better, especially people I didn’t know,” Gallew said. “I didn’t have a lot of social experiences when I was younger, so it was really important for me to learn that as I got older.”


Gallew noted that seeing the impact of her service work while delivering food to people in need was a “nice” feeling.


In 2023, she painted a mural at Asher Manor in Muncy, after two years of volunteering at St. Joseph the Worker Parish Vacation Bible School.


In 2024, Gallew began volunteering at the Y.W.C.A., for her senior project. She has hosted donation drives and reorganized storage units.


She has been working as a kennel attendant at the Williamsport West Veterinary Hospital since July 2021. While there, she tended to the animals, administered medication and communicated with their owners on top of her labor duties of sanitation and organizing documents.


“Work hard, you never really know if… you’re good at something unless you give it 100%,” Gallew said. “ I feel like a lot of people now, they give up before they even start really. The first steps you need to take in excelling at something is hard work.”