October 6, 2026  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

The Harwood Union Hall of Fame Committee has announced the six inductees for its 14th class to be honored at the annual induction ceremony on Nov. 14.

This year’s honorees are Michael Hardin, Kaitlin MacLean-Daley, Donald Perry, Laura Titus, Chris Waldo and Anneka Williams.

Each year, the Hall of Fame Committee looks to elect individuals or groups who represent the best that Harwood, Waitsfield, and Waterbury High Schools and their respective communities have to offer, said Hall of Fame Chair Tommy Young. “Our inaugural class in 2009 set the benchmark for all other classes to follow, and we are excited to announce the Harwood Hall of Fame Class of 2026 honorees,” Young said. “This group of inductees has left a lasting mark on their respective schools through their exceptional actions and accomplishments during high school and beyond.”

The event will be held at the Inn at Round Barn Farm in Waitsfield, starting at 5 p.m. with cocktails, followed by dinner and the induction ceremony.

Tickets are $55, available through Nov. 3 from Harwood Athletic Director Ian Fraunfelder via email at ifraunfelder@huusd.org. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

Additional donations to support the annual event are also appreciated. For details and to contribute, contact Tommy Young at tyoung@huusd.org.

Below are excerpts from the Hall of Fame inductee biographies.

Michael Hardin | Harwood Class of 2007

Michael Hardin was Harwood valedictorian in 2007, setting a benchmark for academic rigor, musical achievement and community leadership.

Throughout high school, he participated in Scholars Bowl and Student Government and started a student fundraising group to support the Central Africa peace and justice nonprofit, Invisible Children.

An accomplished pianist, Hardin performed in Harwood’s top Jazz Band, the Winooski Valley Jazz Band, and the Vermont All-State Jazz Band. At the Berklee High School Jazz Festivals in 2006-2008, he led ensembles to first-place finishes and earned outstanding musician and judges’ choice awards. He also served as music co-director at St. Patrick’s Church in Moretown and organized a Harwood alumni tribute concert honoring longtime music instructor Bruce Sklar.

At Columbia University, Hardin performed in a university jazz ensemble and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Religion. In 2014, he earned his Juris Doctor from Fordham Law School, where he served on the Fordham Law Review board. As a law student, he excelled in trial advocacy and published a scholarly article that has since been cited in multiple court opinions. Hardin clerked for three federal judges before he was appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of New Jersey in 2023.

Hardin continues to coach trial advocacy at Fordham Law School, where he has guided student teams to a national championship, regional titles, and numerous individual advocate awards.

Kaitlin MacLean-Daley | Harwood Class of 2012

Kaitlin MacLean-Daley established a foundation of musical and athletic excellence at Harwood before building an internationally recognized career as a music publishing executive, licensing expert, and artist manager.

During high school, she sang in chorus and in the vocal ensemble iCantori. She performed in the Winooski Valley Music Festival, the Winooski Valley Jazz Festival, and the Vermont All State Music Festival.

MacLean-Daley starred in Harwood and Vermont theatrical productions and competed on the girls varsity hockey team prior to a career-ending injury. Known for singing the national anthem at Harwood games and events, she was selected to represent Vermont at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a senior at Harwood.

She attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating summa cum laude with a dual Bachelor of Music in Music Business Management and Professional Music with concentrations in marketing and performance. She also earned a certificate in Entertainment Law and Industry from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law.

MacLean-Daley began her professional career in marketing with Universal Music Group in Boston and later moved to Los Angeles to work at Universal Music Publishing Group, where she quickly worked her way up from executive assistant to director of music sampling and business development, 2017-2023. Her role involved overseeing sampling operations and business development. (Sampling is a practice in the music industry when portions of an existing song or copyright are used in a new song.)

The hundreds of projects MacLean-Daley has worked on include negotiating sample contracts for hits by artists such as Lil Nas X and Dolly Parton, as well as tracks and albums for artists including Beyoncé, Drake, Kanye West and Jack Harlow, and songs for the “Barbie” movie soundtrack. In 2023, Snoop Dogg appointed her to serve as vice president and head of publishing for Death Row Records.

In 2024, she founded KatClearedit, LLC, where she currently serves as CEO, handling special licensing projects, advising new music tech companies, and managing artists, songwriters, and producers. She says her primary focus is to make the best deals for artists and rights holders.

She also co-founded Karousel, a boutique management company, and is a professional member of the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammy Awards.

*Donald Perry, Waterbury High School Class of 1959. Courtesy photo*

Donald Perry | Waterbury H.S. Class of 1959

Waterbury High School alum Donald Perry is honored for a legacy of athletic excellence, military service, and dedicated coaching spanning over two decades at Harwood Union High School.

A standout multi-sport student-athlete at Waterbury High School, Perry graduated in 1959 after competing four years in baseball, basketball, and cross country, and two years in soccer. During his senior year, he served as team captain for the baseball and basketball teams, led the Green Mountain League in basketball scoring, and received a lifetime pass and letter of recognition from the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference.

Following high school, Perry served four years in the U.S. Army and 13 and a half years in the Vermont National Guard. Professionally, he worked 33 years for the Town of Waterbury, five years at Rock of Ages, and seven years with the state of Vermont.

Along the way, Perry devoted more than 20 years coaching Harwood student-athletes in baseball and basketball. In 15 years as varsity baseball coach, his teams logged more than 125 victories. He also coached the Vermont Twin State Baseball Team in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997.

A leader among Vermont sport educators, Perry was an active member of the Vermont Baseball Coaches Association for 23 years, serving as its vice president and president.

He coached junior high girls basketball, junior varsity boys basketball, and was assistant varsity coach for both the girls and boys basketball programs for 15 years.

Perry officiated varsity girls softball for 12 years and adult softball leagues for 22 years. Perry also coached Little League and Babe Ruth Baseball for 10 years and served on the Waterbury Recreation Committee.

Laura Titus | Harwood Class of 1971

Laura (Morse) Titus brings nearly four decades of devotion to Harwood Union High School and public education.

Raised on a farm in Duxbury with six siblings, she developed a strong work ethic that guided her life of public service. During her student years at Harwood, she assisted in the main office during free periods and performed in the senior one-act play. After graduating in 1971, she earned an Associate Degree in Secretarial Science from Vermont Community College in 1984.

Titus began her career at the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury, 1971-1984, working as team secretary in social work, quality assurance secretary, and medical specialist. In 1985, she joined the central office at Washington West Supervisory Union and the Harwood Unified Union School District, where she served 36 and a half years as an administrative assistant, supporting 14 different superintendents. She also volunteered on Harwood Project Graduation committees in 2001 and 2003.

Her career contributions earned her the Apple Award from the Vermont Association of Educational Office Professionals, of which she was a member for nearly 30 years and served as treasurer.

Titus currently serves as treasurer for the Harwood Unified Union School District.

Her civic engagement includes two terms as Waitsfield Town Auditor, years of service as a ballot clerk, service as secretary for the Duxbury Historical Society, and eight years as an official scorer for Thunder Road and ACT Tour motorsports.

Chris Waldo | Harwood Class of 2006

Christopher Waldo distinguished himself through artistic expression, creative writing and youth leadership.

During high school, he took part in slam poetry, attended the Vermont Young Writers Conference, and acted in the school production of the play “Our Town.”

Demonstrating a commitment to youth mentorship, he served as an assistant basketball coach for elementary school girls in Fayston.

A talented saxophonist, Waldo performed in the Harwood Concert Band and played in the school’s Jazz Bands. He was saxophone section leader for the 2006 A Jazz Band when it won first place at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival; he played in the Winooski Valley Concert Band, the Winooski Valley Jazz Band, and was first alternate for the Vermont All-State Jazz Band.

Waldo earned his Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in Greek and Latin from the University of Vermont in 2011, where he played in the UVM Jazz Ensemble, participated in the Goodrich Classical Club, and contributed to Demonyms Literary Magazine. At the University of California Berkeley, he earned a Master of Arts in Greek in 2014 and a Doctorate in Classics in 2019.

After working as a visiting assistant professor at Tulane University, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington Seattle as an assistant professor of Classics. His academic research focuses on Greek poetry, race and ethnicity in the ancient world, and classical reception in Asian American literature. He has numerous published works, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His scholarly awards include the Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship, a Royalty Research Fund Grant, and the Phyllis B. Katz Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.

In 2019, Waldo co-founded the Asian and Asian American Classical Caucus to support scholars and advance research across Asian cultures. It earned a Professional Equity Award from the Women' s Classical Caucus in 2021.

His volunteer work has included working as a hotline counselor at Hope Works in Burlington, providing crisis support to survivors of sexual assault. He was an English as a Second Language instructor in Berkeley, teaching immigrants and asylum seekers.

Anneka Williams | Harwood Class of 2017

Anneka Williams graduated from Harwood as a highly decorated student-athlete and academic leader.

She served on Student Government, was a founder of the Harwood Sustainability Club, a National Honor Society member, and a 2017 U.S. Senate Youth Scholar.

Williams was a standout Harwood multi-sport varsity athlete in Cross Country, Track and Field, and Nordic Skiing, 2013-17, serving as captain for both Cross Country and Track and Field in 2015 and 2016. She led Harwood Cross Country to three consecutive Division II team state championships, 2014-16, competed in three New England Championships, and set a 5K personal record of 19:16 min., the third-fastest time in Harwood history.

In Track and Field, she captured D-II state titles in the 3,000-meter run in 2014 and 2017, placed as state runner-up in 2015, and holds the second-fastest 1,500-meter time and third-fastest 3,000-meter time in school history.

In Nordic skiing, she earned Vermont All-State Team honors in 2016 and Vermont J2 Team honors in 2015, helping Harwood secure third place overall at the state championships.

Williams graduated from Bowdoin College in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a minor in Earth and Oceanographic Science; she received a Master of Science in Climate Change from the University of Copenhagen in 2023. In her studies, she conducted climate change research across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. Her higher education achievements include a Fulbright Award, selection as a Danish Intergovernmental Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, and multiple honors at Bowdoin.

Professionally, she is a climate resilience specialist and technical writer at ICF, working on climate risk and adaptation analyses for corporate and government clients.

As an outdoor journalist, she’s written for numerous publications including Outside Business Journal, Trail Runner, Vermont Sports Magazine, Powder Magazine, where she worked as digital editor, and Backcountry Magazine, where she was an editorial assistant.

She continues to pursue endurance athletics. In 2019, she won the Farm to Farm Ultra 25K race in Maine; she placed third at both the Millinocket 2018 Half Marathon in Maine and the 2022 Trails Des Hauts Forts 50K race in France. She recently completed a 10-day ski mountaineering expedition on the Pika Glacier in Alaska.

Her community service includes volunteering as a sexual assault survivor support advocate at Bowdoin, working as an avalanche educator and climbing instructor at the University of Utah, leading youth expeditions in Chilean Patagonia, and mentoring Harwood students.

Harwood Hall of Fame to add six new members on Nov. 14