High School Award Ceremony

These presentations serve as a great recruiting tool for the SA's and ROTC.

I don't want to offend anyone, but while not wanting the recognition may seem like an act of humility, I would beg to differ. It seems safe to say that not one single recipient of an ROTC scholarship or academy appointment coming straight out of high school accomplished this feat in a vacuum. Maybe it was a teacher, a counselor, a parent, a sibling, a coach, a friend, or any combination thereof...but nobody gets that far alone. Its about teamwork, it's about being a leader. Accepting the recognition that goes along with achieving such an award is as much about giving those that helped along the way their moment as it is the candidate's. Our high school was built eight years ago, and to date has had neither a ROTC Scholarship winner nor an Academy appointment...the class of 2018 has 2 ROTC scholarship winners, and a USAFA appointment (so far that we know of). From talking to the front office staff, they are beyond excited! They see it as a win for the team, so should the recipient.

So, if I had a reluctant recipient, my advice to him/her would be to get up there on that stage, show your pride and then give all the credit to those who have helped you along the way. That is what a Leader does. And yes, the local recruiting office will thank you.
 
Just backed you up kinnem. I’m sure there will be others that will add to the likes.
 
Not offended at all, while neither son was interested in any special presentation, I'm sure if their school had allowed such a presentation they would have gone with it. The high school my son's attended had a graduating class of around 700, the 4 year scholarships awarded from both public and private universities were far to many to count. If the school had allowed individual presentations for each of these we would probably still be at the Awards Night.

My son's reasoning was that they would feel awkward being handed a giant check on stage when there were many others that had received scholarships that were of much higher value and harder to receive that were not recognized. As it turned out the school did not allow any scholarship presentations. Both son's regarded the scholarship as an opportunity rather then an achievement, the achievement came four years later when they commissioned. Don't get me wrong, both stood up and accepted every achievement they earned in high school, college, and ROTC. In this regard neither was shy about it.

The school only gave out academic awards on that night such as top 20 in their class, individual department awards, and such. Any of these recipients that had a scholarship were acknowledged. Even if the school had allowed scholarship presentations they would not have allowed a representative from the Military on campus to make the presentation, their school was quite liberal, they only allowed recruiters on campus twice a year, had to have an escort, and were not allowed to wear their uniform. (A whole discussion in itself).

As I said every situation is different. There was mention of acknowledging those that helped them get there, the fact was that those that helped the most were very vocal in their dislike of the military, they spent most of their effort trying to talk both of them from even joining. One even said something very familiar.."Only those that have no other options join the military". Their coaches were much more into it, they all gave a nice recognition speech at the athletic awards night.

If your son's/daughter's school allows the presentation and they want to participate, that's wonderful, what a great night that will be. To be honest I would have loved to see all those people in the audience squirm in their seats watching a couple uniformed officers presenting the scholarship to both my son's. The looks on their faces would have been worth it.
 
If your son's/daughter's school allows the presentation and they want to participate, that's wonderful, what a great night that will be. To be honest I would have loved to see all those people in the audience squirm in their seats watching a couple uniformed officers presenting the scholarship to both my son's. The looks on their faces would have been worth it.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. I am so excited for my sons ceremony on Monday night. While their school is a great school, they maybe have one kid every year out of 200 heading towards the military. Most of the kids go onto college at their parents cost. We are no where near that possibility. My sons are the first to graduate from a high school in the USA. I love this country and the opportunities it has so it is an honor for my boys to serve and to give back. Most of the kids in their class have no idea of how the rest of the world lives and their parents could care even less. Hard work never did anyone any harm. Too bad most of their peers never know the meaning.
 
These presentations serve as a great recruiting tool for the SA's and ROTC.

I would beg to differ. It seems safe to say that not one single recipient of an ROTC scholarship or academy appointment coming straight out of high school accomplished this feat in a vacuum. Maybe it was a teacher, a counselor, a parent, a sibling, a coach, a friend, or any combination thereof...but nobody gets that far alone. Its about teamwork, it's about being a leader.
I beg to differ. I'm all about teamwork and leading teams and did pretty well as a leader during my Navy and civilian careers.
That said, when I got into USNA, it was ME that did it. There was no team pulling/pushing me through. I was motivated because I wanted to make something of my self and get out of my poor and extremely blue collar town and not have my parents pay for it. My parent's part in all of it was signing when they had to and a few rides to medical exams and the like. I've been a BGO for over 25 yrs now and will agree that many or even most get degrees of support but there are some who do it themselves.
A couple of yrs ago, our BGO area coordinator had a candidate whose parents had passed away and was supposedly in the custody of an older sibling who lived in another state. This candidate worked in order to pay the rent and buy food while still going to high school. To his inner city school, he was just another kid but one who managed to keep out of trouble. He had good, not great grades but knew what he wanted in life and did it all himself and made it into (and through) USNA.
 
For my DD and DS, who both applied to USNA, I think the situation was somewhere in the middle of what kgbpost and OldRetSWO described. As far as the process of applying, both did it 100% on their own. In fact, I've learned more about the process being on this forum then I ever did while my kids were going through it. We did give some rides to appointments and things like that, but had no direct involvement and really only knew what they told us.

Having said that, I'd like to think the way we raised our kids helped prepare them to be qualified to compete at that level and some credit should go to military friends and some of their HS teachers who helped make them aware of SA's and ROTC scholarships and taught and encouraged them along the way.

To me, if the school allows it and your DD/DS is OK with the recognition there is nothing wrong with being recognized at awards night. If the school doesn't allow it or your DD/DS isn't comfortable with it - that is OK too.
 
Totally agree with @ders_dad my daughter made the decision about wanting to learn more about Army ROTC after a visitor came to her shcool in middle school, she came home asking about it. I think it does serve a higher purpose. That being said, for Army ROTC at least, the ROTC battalions are given guidance on what to do and who to do it for. In our case we were contacted by the high school that someone would be coming to awards ceremony but also informed us that they often no showed (closest battalion, not where she would be attending) and there was a plan B. It was awesome that they recognized her and the young man that earned a spot at the Airforce Academy, however, upon my DD’s wishes we did not pursue making it happen. It was her thing, and she wanted to let the process be whatever it was. A school counselor who was prior service announced the awards and it ended up perfect. In fact it was a surprise to my daughter, no one told her it was happened and we didn’t either. So when the ROTC representative didn’t show up and it was an employee at the shcool, she didn’t know any different and she still doesn’t, so it was above what she expected. I will say that the school had a process of notifying the school of awards and asked parents to fill out a form and we did do that. Congratulations to all high school kids and their parents on earning scholarships, it is a very exciting time!
 
My DS is normally the poster child for avoiding special recognition, but I have to say that getting that big cardboard check at awards night was pretty special and something he won't likely ever forget. Many of his friends did not even know about the scholarship and there were quite a few surprised faces when three uniformed Marines showed up to present it to him. The Major made a wonderful inspiring speech about how the United States Marine Corps chooses to "invest" in a select few, and here's why we chose this young man -- it was great. This, after the school had left him off of the program despite knowing about the scholarship, was extra special because even though yes, it is a great PR and Recruiting opportunity for them, it was also a "Marines take care of our own" thing, and they were not going to let him go unrecognized. Their presence at the award ceremony was not generated by son or me -- they contacted the school on their own and said they were coming, end of story. They will also be at graduation to give him some sort of special sash (not clear on what this is exactly) at the same time he gets his diploma. Suffice it to say we are happy and proud of his choice to serve, and he is feeling the brotherhood already.
 
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?

Just wanted to say that waiting paid off...a local AROTC battalion was assigned to do his presentation but an alumni of his High School who just graduated from James Madison University and is a newly commissioned Second Lieutenant wrote to the guidance department and specifically asked to present my sons scholarship at awards night. It was pretty special to know this young man is willing to drive a considerable distance on his own time to make this night special for my son. Hope that my DS will have the opportunity to lay it forward in the future.
 
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.
TOTALLY agree....it is super important. I was the first ever recipient of an ROTC scholarship from my small rural Minnesota high school in 1988.

I was given the award at graduation, and I’m sure that is the reason that the next 4 (maybe more) classes had ROTC scholarships awarded. Some schools and guidance counselors don’t realize how awesome these these awards are.
 
DS didn't have any one show up at his awards ceremony but we had all the financial figures and turned them in, he ended up having the highest total. At the time he liked the recognition. There were quite a few kids in his class that joined the military, he was the only one to do ROTC. More joined after a couple of years. Out of 65 I think 10 ended up in the military in one form or the other.
Looking back, he probably would have foregone the recognition when looking at the number of good students that didn't receive any scholarships.

Absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying the attention though.
 
My sons was good also. The ROO couldn't come, but he did have a representation there who handed over the "Big Check". My son is pretty quiet at school and very few knew about it and probably none realized how big a deal it was. The Middle school principal gave me the thumbs up as the presentation was being made, and he thanked us after for the service. The representative hung around until the end and took pictures. Actually the representative had our middle school principal for a teacher a few years ago and knew him pretty well, so it was a good night in all.
 
The PMS came out to my son’s award ceremony, gave a nice recap of the award and my son’s accomplishments and offered congratulations. It was very cool, unexpected and very appreciated. Only seniors and their families were there, but I’m sure the LTC made a great impact for any younger kids who saw the presentation and are considering the ROTC option. (Also, no big check, which was appreciated!)
 
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