High school graduation ceremony

Roadking

Roadking

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I heard it may be possible to have a representative from West Point present at H.S. graduation to present Appointment to DS? DS is very much interested in having this happen....thoughts? Who would be our point of contact? Any negatives to this?
 
Roadking said:
I heard it may be possible to have a representative from West Point present at H.S. graduation to present Appointment to DS? DS is very much interested in having this happen....thoughts? Who would be our point of contact? Any negatives to this?
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The only negative is if something were to happen to have the appointment withdrawn... injury, doing something stupid, etc. Potentially this could cause even more embarrassment for your DS. But other than that I see no drawbacks. Don't know who to contact, but you might try your local recruiter to see if they can help. I doubt it's actually someone from the academy who makes the presentation since there are always personnel who are local.
 
Roadking said:
I heard it may be possible to have a representative from West Point present at H.S. graduation to present Appointment to DS? DS is very much interested in having this happen....thoughts? Who would be our point of contact? Any negatives to this?
Click to expand...

For DS high school, the last assembly of the year is when seniors are recognized. That is where the FFR, MALO or ROTC representative announces appointment/ scholarship. The high school holds graduation at a nearby college and we have a time limit for use of facilities so awards are not presented at graduation ceremony.
 
My cadet's MALO made his presentation at the school's Awards Day. (My cadet's high school graduation is at an arena and they hustle through the ceremony because another school is waiting behind them.)

This is something your cadet can coordinate with his FFR. My cadet made all the arrangements himself.
 
Presentation

This is part of their jog as a FFR. Make contact with him or her and ask if they can make the presentation. Or they can make arrangements to have something presented.


Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Graduation

At on of our children's high school, Service Academy reps come to the actual graduation and talk a bit about the student and announce that they will be attending the academy. VERY neat. The audiance applauds to a significant degree!

At our other child's school, the night before graduation there is a small gathering for faculty, staff, the selected students and their parents...for SA reps to come and make the announcement. They get several students attending SAs each year and so it is often 4-7 students with appointments. Much more intimate than the first.

Whatever the process, I would think it would be great to have some type of special recognition. The process they go through to get to a SA and what will be expected of them there and afterwards is very different from going to college. In my view, they deserve a nice little boost at high school graduation time.

S
 
When my daughter received her appointment, her FFR came to the high school awards ceremony and presented her appointment. If I remember correctly (she graduated HS in 2007, WP in 2011) her FFR gave her the choice of having him make the presentation or, if she preferred, he would have an officer in uniform make the presentation. The officer would not have been from WP but from the area in which we lived.

The next year one of her friends received an appointment, so my daughter flew home for 1 day (after having received permission from the powers that be at WP) and was able to give the speech and present the appointment to her friend. Very neat!
 
Roadking said:
I heard it may be possible to have a representative from West Point present at H.S. graduation to present Appointment to DS? DS is very much interested in having this happen....thoughts? Who would be our point of contact? Any negatives to this?
Click to expand...

Did your DS already receive an appointment?
 
tug_boat said:
This is part of their jog as a FFR. Make contact with him or her and ask if they can make the presentation. Or they can make arrangements to have something presented.


Push Hard, Press Forward
Click to expand...

Yes it makes sense that it would be someone local as it is unrealistic for WP to be traveling all over the U.S. doing graduations. The only issue is DS is a recruited athlete and his FFR and CONGRESSIONAL REP have never returned his emails due to NCAA rules. His only points of contact have been the coach and the athletic RC at WP. Maybe now since he is appointed the FFR would respond?

Kinnem, DS only has approx a week off before R-Day, so we will double the bubble wrap! Very good point though anything can happen to screw things up...

DS received his appointment on Decmber 15th.

Katemac and Stella, thank you for your responses! Good info.

Our family is heading to West Point for a hockey game this afternoon. We are looking forward to doing the museum, gift shop and lunch in Highland Falls! GO ARMY!!!
 
Our MOC's Service Academy coordinator and a LT. COL. (retired) USMA grad came to present appointments at our DS's senior end of school assembly. They do this every year and it is quite a memorable experience. MY DS decided his freshman year that he wanted to go to a service academy after 6 seniors that year were presented appointments (Navy and West Point). His high school has quite a history of SA attendance!
 
Roadking said:
I heard it may be possible to have a representative from West Point present at H.S. graduation to present Appointment to DS? DS is very much interested in having this happen....thoughts? Who would be our point of contact? Any negatives to this?
Click to expand...

Congrats to your DS and to you. I agree with others I think the place for this would be the honors ceremony where others are receiving their recognition (awards, scholarships, etc.)
 
Roadking said:
Yes it makes sense that it would be someone local as it is unrealistic for WP to be traveling all over the U.S. doing graduations. The only issue is DS is a recruited athlete and his FFR and CONGRESSIONAL REP have never returned his emails due to NCAA rules. His only points of contact have been the coach and the athletic RC at WP. Maybe now since he is appointed the FFR would respond? GO ARMY!!!
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If your son has accepted his appointment, then try to contact your FFR again. I'm sure he/she will make arrangements for your DS to have his appointment presented to him at whatever ceremony your school feels is appropriate.
I prefer having a WP grad (preferably AD so they are in uniform) make the presentation because of the symbolism of the long grey line.
Grad presenting appointment to future grad. It's a very special moment for all.
 
buff81 said:
If your son has accepted his appointment, then try to contact your FFR again. I'm sure he/she will make arrangements for your DS to have his appointment presented to him at whatever ceremony your school feels is appropriate.
I prefer having a WP grad (preferably AD so they are in uniform) make the presentation because of the symbolism of the long grey line.
Grad presenting appointment to future grad. It's a very special moment for all.
Click to expand...

Thanks buff81, DS will try again. He really likes the idea of a Active Duty WP grad if possible, but he can't believe that an Officer would take the time to come to his graduation. He is just so honored. And yes DS electronically accepted his appointment the first day that he saw it on his portal. It was very cool for his mom and I to see him click that mouse!
 
buff81 said:
(preferably AD so they are in uniform)
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Retired graduates are authorized to wear their uniforms so as long as they haven't discarded it, they are a viable option. JROTC and ROTC instructors in the area may be more than willing to do it if you contact them and they are graduates. Contacting WPAOG could be another option. :thumb:

I had my friend's father (retired West Point grad) present mine at our Senior Awards night. :smile:
 
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