High School Award Ceremony

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owlmom

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Nov 4, 2017
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My sons high school is having their award ceremony in less than a month. He notified the ROO at his battalion and was told to wait, a local unit would be in touch. Should i have him reach out again or wait a little longer?
 
Wait...the guidance for covering awards nights just came out last week.
 
anyone who can shed some light on this- what it entails? My DD's guidance counselor got a call from "someone in the Navy" and said the award ceremony would have to be approved by the school district's administration.
 
Lots of past posts on recognition at HS awards ceremonies you can search. Seems to vary by individual HS rules and availability of local military staff, so it's not always an option. Definitely nice if you can do it, so do look into it.
 
Someone should be in contact with you. I got an email yesterday from the closest ROTC unit to my high school and they will be in collaboration with my school regarding the award presentation.
 
We called DD's HS counselor and notified her. She knows the local recruiter that visits the school occasionally and contacted him and he verified that he was aware of DD's scholarship and asked to meet DD during lunch which he did. He told her that himself and another person from the local recruiting office would be presenting the 'big check' ($200,000 this year) at her awards ceremony. The only thing he asked her for was a short bio to be used for her introduction. Everyone is on board and in the loop...we're so excited for awards night! Yes be proactive if necessary... what a huge moment in a young person's life!
 
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Ive reached out to the ROO at the school my son will be attending, twice, with no response. Would I be better off contacting the ROO at our local college?
 
Momof3kids said:
Ive reached out to the ROO at the school my son will be attending, twice, with no response. Would I be better off contacting the ROO at our local college?
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It would be BETTER if your DS does the contacting. The less parents are involved in communications with cadre, the better it is for your cadet.

I think I spoke to my DS's ROO one time, and that was when my son introduced us at the swearing in ceremony.
 
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Momof3kids said:
Hard to turn off mom mode sometimes lol ;) especially when the school wants the contact info and my sons in school all day and can’t call.
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Agree with Mom. It IS hard! The best analogy I have found is that as parents, we are the administrative support for our DS/DD. We can help behind the scenes with:
  • Advice (when asked for it)
  • Taxi driver.
  • Wardrobe assistant - helping him/her with an "interview" outfit.
  • Admin work (running to FEDEX to send a doc overnight while he/she is at soccer practice).
  • DoDMERB guidance (he/she was only 3 when that concussion happened, etc).
Howver, your DD/DS is the executive in charge. He/she calls the shots on where to apply, all interviews, face to face or voice to voice contact, and completing the applications (As @kinnem says, calls should be on your DS, not you).

My DS actually missed the AROTC scholarship app deadline due to all the other plates he was spinning (USNA app, USMA app, NROTC/MO app, MOC nom interviews, DoDMERB, sports, work, AP tests, SAT prep, volunteering).

Was I tempted to help do it for him? You bet! Did I? Nope. He needed to know his limitations, and he found it!
 
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Yes AROTC-dad. As usual you are correct. For the student executive in charge, it is hard... but hard doesn't mean impossible and lines have be drawn somewhere (as you did).
 
AROTC-dad said:
Agree with Mom. It IS hard! The best analogy I have found is that as parents, we are the administrative support for our DS/DD. We can help behind the scenes with:
  • advice (when asked for it)
  • admin work (running to FEDEX to send a doc overnight while he/she is at soccer practice).
  • DoDMERB guidance (he/she was only 3 when he got that concussion, etc).
Howver, your DD/DS is the executive in charge. He/she calls the shots on where to apply, all interviews, face to face or voice to voice contact, and completing the applications (As @kinnem says, calls should be on your DS, not you).

My DS actually missed the AROTC scholarship app deadline due to all the other plates he was spinning (sports, work, AP tests, SAT prep volunteering).

Was I tempted to help do it for him? You bet! Did I? Nope. He needed to know his limitations, and he found it!
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I agree, and up until now, I’ve stayed in my lane, and he’s driven in his, handling everything he’s needed to do. This probably boils down more to my son doesn’t want the recognition, so won’t make the calls for that reason. Meanwhile the school is asking me for contact info, and of course I want him to be recognized for all the hard work HE did. But you’re right, he needs to take the lead on it.
 
Have the school talk to your son about contact info. He'll either get it for them, or he'll tell them he doesn't want the recognition. It's his ship to navigate now.
 
This is how my son's HS did awards ceremonies, not sure if your son's does it as well, but it's worth HIM looking into. My son was given a sheet, in which he had to list all of the scholarships he was awarded, every single one, and what they were for, and proof, and submitted it to his counselor. His school, went the extra mile my son initially was going to Embry Riddle - Daytona it's where 2 of his 3 scholarships were from, since we live in a military town, where there is a representative from Embry Riddle. the school reached out and got the Embry - Riddle rep, my son didn't have to, and he read all of his scholarships, including his ROTC scholarship. He didn't even do a real bio on my son, he was just so impressed with an academic scholarship, sports scholarship, and ROTC, all he needed was his name, and man did he do an awesome announcement. He knew he needed to do it all, and he went to be with his friends, plus he was honored for physics as well. In the end though, if your son doesn't want to be recognized, that has to be his decision. As much as we as parents want them to receive the accolades they have worked so hard for, some just don't want to do it (there were some in my sons graduating class that skipped if it was only for scholarship recognition)
 
Momof3kids said:
This probably boils down more to my son doesn’t want the recognition, so won’t make the calls for that reason.
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There is a lot to be said for this statement.

Make sure your son/daughters really want any kind of ceremony or presentation, especially one of those BIG Checks. Both my sons received 4 years scholarships, neither wanted anything to do with a special presentation. At their awards night they would simply announce any scholarships for those that received awards, the scholarships were also listed in the graduation program. Neither wanted anything beyond that.
 
AROTC-dad said:
Momof3kids said:
Hard to turn off mom mode sometimes lol ;) especially when the school wants the contact info and my sons in school all day and can’t call.
Click to expand...

Agree with Mom. It IS hard! The best analogy I have found is that as parents, we are the administrative support for our DS/DD. We can help behind the scenes with:
  • Advice (when asked for it)
  • Taxi driver.
  • Wardrobe assistant - helping him/her with an "interview" outfit.
  • Admin work (running to FEDEX to send a doc overnight while he/she is at soccer practice).
  • DoDMERB guidance (he/she was only 3 when that concussion happened, etc).
Howver, your DD/DS is the executive in charge. He/she calls the shots on where to apply, all interviews, face to face or voice to voice contact, and completing the applications (As @kinnem says, calls should be on your DS, not you).

My DS actually missed the AROTC scholarship app deadline due to all the other plates he was spinning (USNA app, USMA app, NROTC/MO app, MOC nom interviews, DoDMERB, sports, work, AP tests, SAT prep, volunteering).

Was I tempted to help do it for him? You bet! Did I? Nope. He needed to know his limitations, and he found it!
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this. If the kids want it bad enough, they will go after it. Normally my son is a procrastinator, but this was one thing he wanted so badly. He was the driving force behind it completely. I did go with him to the medicals, and also drove him to the interview. The ROO wanted to meet with the parents, so they sent my son down to the car to get me. Saying that, we have a fantastic ROO. But every single email has come from my son to the ROO. I don't even tell him what to say.
Next week is awards night and I just cannot wait. The ROO will be there and made it sound so fantastic.
 
Our school dropped the ball a bit and did not contact us as to when the award night was even planned, but normally they do request that the student reach out to the appropriate contact person or people to coordinate a presentation. In our case we lucked out because unbeknownst to either me or my son, the reps themselves reached out to the school. Just received an email from the school that three military personnel will be on hand to present. So, yay Marines!
 
Our son’s JROTC Awards & Change of Command was last night - he is a 3yr winner from 3rd board & another student is a 3yr winner from 2nd board.

A ROO from college that is closer to us is going to attend the Senior awards ceremony in May and present the big checks to both students then.

For last night both students brought their certificate that was mailed from Cadet Command & their Col did a presentation for each of them. I had asked if I could buy two big checks to use for the effect & they were ok with that idea, but I decided to wait for the official ones. I’m excited the entire Senior class & other teachers will now get to see the presentation in May.
 
I’d like to add one thing for receipients of ROTC scholarships & SA appointments with respect to HS awards ceremonies. 5 years ago, when DS 2 graduated from HS, a classmate of his had recognition for appointment to USAFA. DS 3 was in 6th grade at the time and was in-tow. On the way home, he started asking about SAs. I didn’t know it at the time, but that HS awards night likely changed the trajectory of his life. Just stating that sometimes recognition serves a higher purpose beyond the individual being recognized.
 
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