Recognition Ceremony

J

jennyp

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There used to be a thread on here about the various reactions from folks regarding our children's appointments to an SA. Some of the stories were hilarious, some sad, some uplifting. Couldn't find the thread, but wanted to post our experience from last night.

We attended our school recognition ceremony. Our BGO is more than 500 miles away, so the ALO for our area agreed to do the presentation of our son's USNA appt. He used the write-up provided by USNA. And ad-libbed a bit. Son got a standing ovation and Mom cried. Thank goodness patriotism is alive and well in West Texas!

Two Air Force Academy appointments were also presented. A first for our high school: 3 kids SA bound. Same reaction. Lots of congratulations all around following ceremony. Not one "weird" remark.

The only other standing ovation all evening was for the top ten seniors at the very end of the ceremony.

Time is marching down for all of us to send our kids to "summer camp" at the various SA's. Enjoy these last days of having them at home!
 
HS Graduation

It was so great to have a representative from the USCG at my son's HS graduation. Though the school didn't allow any remarks, he generously gave his time and effort to attend and present the "White Folder". And a thunderous round of applause was heard!...see photo in Avatar.:thumb:
 
Eagle said:
It was so great to have a representative from the USCG at my son's HS graduation. Though the school didn't allow any remarks, he generously gave his time and effort to attend and present the "White Folder". And a thunderous round of applause was heard!...see photo in Avatar.:thumb:
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That's a shame, we have a very interesting speech when presenting the appointments.
 
We will have an awards ceremony on Wednesday and my son will be recogized for his appointement to uSMMA will let you know how it goes. I do not know if anythig will be said at the graduation ceremony
 
My son's school has re-scheduled their academic awards ceremony three times. One of the 3/C's from Texas he met while shadowing at CGA called and offerred to drive three hours and present my son his appointment. A retired officer is still going to be able to make his presentation (and speech), but that says a lot about a the 3/C he met just once! :thumb:

Attended a Memorial Day recognition ceremony for Service Academy appointees from Texas put on by Senator John Cornyn in Austin. Very proud moment. Some families drove 5+ hours to be there.
 
How was that Memorial Day ceremony in Texas? We are more than 500 miles from Austin, so sat that one out.
 
jennyp said:
How was that Memorial Day ceremony in Texas? We are more than 500 miles from Austin, so sat that one out.
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It was very nice and patriotic service (fitting for Memorial Day). Senator Cornyn presented each individually and had a photo made with each appointee and the keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Dave Palmer. Palmer gave a very good speech, so much so my son said it said it was very inspiring (coming from a teenager that's high praise). I was surprised that it was for the entire state's appointees. There were 98 appointees all together. Very proud moment.
 
We had the awards ceremony at the HS yesterday one of the professors presented our son with his USMMA appointment. He stated the value of it was approx 205,000. Our son said the room fell silent, and mouths opened wide. I do not the the principal realized what an appointment really meant. In fact there was a school wide announcememt about it. Of course my son was talking and missed the details.
 
We had our local "USMA Recruiter" (comes in once a year to talk to the top 10% of each class come in and explain what USMA was and what it meant. He also valued the "scholarship" at $325,000 and repeated it a second time (the audience all turned head and whispered among each other). Everyone there was impressed and me friend (who also received an appointment to USMA) both received many congratulations. The newspaper also wrote a front page article on the city's service academy appointments (3 USMA and 2 USAFA).
 
My Daughters (and Aquarain)'s Awards night is next thursday the 4th... there will be someone there for my daughter's CGAS presentation, and for Aquarain's NAPS presentation!

WOO HOOO
 
USNA / West Point Recognition

Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of presenting a young man with his Naval Academy appointment in front of his HS class. In the same ceremony my son was presented his appointment to West Point by our AOG rep. A very proud yet humbling moment for all involved.
 
Sadly, my sons school superintendent (s.s.) did not want to recognize him - he had even banned recruiters from the school (it's a Christian School). The USMA liaison even called the school to set up a time, but all it did was get my son called to the carpet and the s.s. was a jerk. My son however, took it in stride and told me not to go beat the s.s. down like any good NCO would do. Sure enough the S.S. had to swallow his pride when he was forced to read a congressional Proclamation issued by the House of Representatives in New Mexico proclaiming his Academy Appointment, his ACT award and numerous scholarships he turned down, and his being NM's top student. The place exploded in applause as every adult gave him a standing ovation. The s.s. was fired last week because of his poor handling of school matters.
 
Last night at our awards ceremony We had the honor of welcoming USCG Capt. S. Englebert to award Joyce her USCGA Scolars appointment. What an honor it was for our little school, even though I do not think they realized it until after the fact that the Capt (equiv. to a full bird) is in charge of the Pacific Northwest area.. "The mayor of all our area waters" As she put it.

The Capt attended the USCGA and graduated in 1984, she was one of the first women to attend and has quite the career.. She told me her parents, back in 1980 took her to the Academy because they really didn't think the school existed!:shake: great little story.

--- Aquarain (Lindsay) was honored for her NAPS appointment by a USMC LtCol. I think he set the mood for military service not only with his excellent uniform but his salute of the flag as he walked in front of it. Upon accepting her certificate Lindsay popped a perfect salute in return to the LtCol.

In addition there are 3 students that were received US Army ROTC appointments.

It was a long program, with the total scholarships exceeding 1.3 million.. I am sure they accepted the amounts from the USNA as 480k and 320k for the USCGA.. (both amounts including the 5th year for prep school). The girls did not receive a standing ovation, except by our families. In the end these two young woman are proud of their accomplishments and the presentations by "their own" lets them know they are important to the USCG and the USN.

Congrats again to my daughter Joyce and Lindsay.... Always Have pride in yourself.. Because YOU will always know what you have accomplished.

Julie
 
You let them know that in New Mexico, there is a new fan of theirs and I am standing at my computer (being looked at quite strangely by my co workers) and I am giving them a well deserved standing ovation. Congrats!
 
J Collins said:
Last night at our awards ceremony We had the honor of welcoming USCG Capt. S. Englebert to award Joyce her USCGA Scolars appointment. What an honor it was for our little school, even though I do not think they realized it until after the fact that the Capt (equiv. to a full bird) is in charge of the Pacific Northwest area.. "The mayor of all our area waters" As she put it.

The Capt attended the USCGA and graduated in 1984, she was one of the first women to attend and has quite the career.. She told me her parents, back in 1980 took her to the Academy because they really didn't think the school existed!:shake: great little story.

--- Aquarain (Lindsay) was honored for her NAPS appointment by a USMC LtCol. I think he set the mood for military service not only with his excellent uniform but his salute of the flag as he walked in front of it. Upon accepting her certificate Lindsay popped a perfect salute in return to the LtCol.

In addition there are 3 students that were received US Army ROTC appointments.

It was a long program, with the total scholarships exceeding 1.3 million.. I am sure they accepted the amounts from the USNA as 480k and 320k for the USCGA.. (both amounts including the 5th year for prep school). The girls did not receive a standing ovation, except by our families. In the end these two young woman are proud of their accomplishments and the presentations by "their own" lets them know they are important to the USCG and the USN.

Congrats again to my daughter Joyce and Lindsay.... Always Have pride in yourself.. Because YOU will always know what you have accomplished.

Julie
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Great recap Julie! How proud I am of your girl, of all the kids who are choosing this most different path!! I am indeed Proud to be an American when I think of these great kids who are the future of our country. :thumb:
 
My BGO came and announced my appointment following all the announcements of Marine, Navy, and National Guard enlistments. One of our Army enlisted graduates returned to present an award to an enlisting senior in my class.

My BGO gave a small recap of the nomination process, plebe summer, and the value. When he said USNA over four years is valued at $350,000, I could hear several people whispering amongst themselves and I was all the way up on stage next to him. For about a week alot of my peers or students below me would just ask about my "free education". I appreciate the recognition but at the same time I knew that's how people would view the appointment.
 
I had the honor of presenting a USNA appointment to a young man in my son's HS class recently. My brief talk (around 1 1/2 min) covered the application process, Plebe Summer, challenges over the next 4 years and finally comissioning as an officer in the Naval Service and the obligation and responsibility that goes with it. No mention was made of the monetary value of the appointment.

In my opinion, any estimate of the monetary value of an appointment to any of our Service Academies is purely speculative and opens the door to folks not familiar with the military walking away with the idea that it's a "free" education. Although probably not intended, it also could be interpreted as boastfulness.

I have actually heard stories of other service academy (to remain nameless) HS recognition ceremonies where a large styrofoam check is presented. (Sort of like the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol) This, again in my opinion, is the epitome of arrogance, bad taste and tackiness.
 
During my son's ceremony the Army Captainwho was up first, mentioned a certain amount (it actually seemed too high to me...$450,000). The Navy Commander who presented my son's appointment simply joked that he's pretty sure that a Navy education is worth at least 10% more. Got a good laugh out of the crowd.

I didn't get the feeling there was any "ohh, they're getting a free education" talk at all. Certainly nobody who knows my son would get that idea.
 
rotorhd said:
I had the honor of presenting a USNA appointment to a young man in my son's HS class recently. My brief talk (around 1 1/2 min) covered the application process, Plebe Summer, challenges over the next 4 years and finally comissioning as an officer in the Naval Service and the obligation and responsibility that goes with it. No mention was made of the monetary value of the appointment.

In my opinion, any estimate of the monetary value of an appointment to any of our Service Academies is purely speculative and opens the door to folks not familiar with the military walking away with the idea that it's a "free" education. Although probably not intended, it also could be interpreted as boastfulness.

I have actually heard stories of other service academy (to remain nameless) HS recognition ceremonies where a large styrofoam check is presented. (Sort of like the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol) This, again in my opinion, is the epitome of arrogance, bad taste and tackiness.
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All due respect but I disagree with your assessment of the Styrofoam check, IMHO it shows the depth of this prestigious award after 4 years of hard work and achievement. Are there people that think it's a free education? Sure, but it's your job to educate them when announcing this award and Appointment.

My son ended up declining his NROTC Marine Corps Option scholarship and the Marine Recruiter (Captain and 6 NCO's) insisted that they show up at Awards night and present the $150,000 check anyway. They also gave an $80,000 check (although it was filled in with a grease pencil, they needed it at another school that same night, my son's was printed, laminated and kept by my son) to a kid that enlisted.
My sons West Point Prep presentation was by a local West Point Captain and he gave about a 3 minute presentation (very similar to what you've described) and handed my son that diploma cased Appointment certificate, he did announce that the scholarship was valued at $350,000 and yes, there was a hush over the audience after that and the Captain explained the commitment required to receive that scholarship. Not a dry eye in the room on the Parents side.
 
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