ROTC Scholarship certificate or award?

DS' school awards night is tonight. I had to work hard to arrange for an Army officer to be there to present the scholarship. DS was awarded a 4 year AROTC scholarship and is going to VaTech. We are in Michigan, and his PMS Interview was done at UOfM. I had no luck getting cooperation with UOFM to have an officer from their AROTC unit attend the ceremony, until I contacted the ROO at VT for help. She informed me that Cadet Command had already "tasked" UOFM with this responsibility. She called UOFM and suddenly, Voila. UOfM called DS' school and will be sending a CAPT. I guess life always comes back to pushing the right buttons, and it's who you know.
 
Well, I can no longer hold my tongue. Reading through this thread, there are a number of folks who seem to feel that their son or daughter deserves to have someone show up at a weeknight awards ceremony and personally present an ROTC scholarship or academy appointment. If a recruiter, officer, BGO, etc. offers this, then that's great, and I hope the school is willing to work that into the ceremony. However, contacting ROTC units (that your child is not even attending) or higher headquarters and expecting them to send an officer to a multi-hour awards ceremony on a weeknight is.....less than considerate. ROTC units are minimally staffed, and the staff members are all coming off of sea tours, deployments, etc. The majority have families. If I had a local student who received a scholarship to my unit, I'd be very happy to attend a ceremony if I was available. However, going somewhere for 2-3 hours to do a 90 second presentation for a kid I don't even know.....yeah, no. Supporting awards ceremonies for every one of the literally thousands upon thousands of recipients nationwide is simply not feasible. And any expectation that a high school student (or parent) deserves to have someone show up because they feel they've "earned" something already is simply misguided. If this seems blunt, sorry, because it needed to be said.
 
I started this thread. I apologize. I was more disappointed with sons school not listing his scholarship in the program. That's it. I wasn't expecting anyone to show up for him. I just wanted the school to acknowledge his scholarship. I sent a couple emails locally after counselor inquired. Then my son said that it wasn't appropriate or necessary. He wasn't very happy with me and informed me that mothers should never under any circumstances ever contact superiors on their son's behalf ever.

I apologize.
 
NavyNOLA said:
Well, I can no longer hold my tongue. Reading through this thread, there are a number of folks who seem to feel that their son or daughter deserves to have someone show up at a weeknight awards ceremony and personally present an ROTC scholarship or academy appointment. If a recruiter, officer, BGO, etc. offers this, then that's great, and I hope the school is willing to work that into the ceremony. However, contacting ROTC units (that your child is not even attending) or higher headquarters and expecting them to send an officer to a multi-hour awards ceremony on a weeknight is.....less than considerate. ROTC units are minimally staffed, and the staff members are all coming off of sea tours, deployments, etc. The majority have families. If I had a local student who received a scholarship to my unit, I'd be very happy to attend a ceremony if I was available. However, going somewhere for 2-3 hours to do a 90 second presentation for a kid I don't even know.....yeah, no. Supporting awards ceremonies for every one of the literally thousands upon thousands of recipients nationwide is simply not feasible. And any expectation that a high school student (or parent) deserves to have someone show up because they feel they've "earned" something already is simply misguided. If this seems blunt, sorry, because it needed to be said.
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I was thinking more of the positive things that would happen to the ROTC program (by letting students/families know about the program) than any recognition for DS. I'm pretty sure he's the only grad with military plans at this point, although there may be an enlistee or two I don't know about - as I said, it's a very small school and I know most of the kids. I would never have even known the services did any kind of award acknowledgement, other than when he did his interview with the AROTC the ROO said they would be there with the 'big check' if he were an awardee, and I was sorry the AFROTC didn't have the same procedure. So tonight he will get honored as the recipient of the Central Michigan Veteran's Scholarship (open to kids who have a parent with a DD214 and an honorable discharge), but not for his own commitment to military service. I never expected his college cadre to show up (7 hours away), and never expected another school to pick up the slack - although it would have been nice if they did.
 
TexasSoccerMom said:
I started this thread. I apologize. I was more disappointed with sons school not listing his scholarship in the program. That's it. I wasn't expecting anyone to show up for him. I just wanted the school to acknowledge his scholarship. I sent a couple emails locally after counselor inquired. Then my son said that it wasn't appropriate or necessary. He wasn't very happy with me and informed me that mothers should never under any circumstances ever contact superiors on their son's behalf ever.

I apologize.
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Not sure why you are apologizing. I felt the same thing and stated as such that it would be good to show the military in a positive light and show others who may have been at the ceremony that NROTC is a great option and an honor. I also made it clear in my inquiry that if they could not make it we totally understood.
 
TexasSoccerMom said:
I started this thread. I apologize. I was more disappointed with sons school not listing his scholarship in the program. That's it. I wasn't expecting anyone to show up for him. I just wanted the school to acknowledge his scholarship. I sent a couple emails locally after counselor inquired. Then my son said that it wasn't appropriate or necessary. He wasn't very happy with me and informed me that mothers should never under any circumstances ever contact superiors on their son's behalf ever.

I apologize.
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No need to apologize for your comments. Army ROTC does presentations. Its a very nice thing. The academies do them too, and it isn't just the parents of the recipient who appreciate the gesture. In the case of my son, the whole large auditorium erupted. Its a very cool thing. If it is a task for some to get to a HS for the presentation, I get that, but someone from the school should do an recognition regardless. Stadiums give standing ovations for service members bringing the baseball to the mound before MLB games. It is a moment of acknowledgement and respect. Those who object would likely have a quite different disposition if it where their kid who earned the scholarship or appointment.
 
NavyNOLA said:
Well, I can no longer hold my tongue. Reading through this thread, there are a number of folks who seem to feel that their son or daughter deserves to have someone show up at a weeknight awards ceremony and personally present an ROTC scholarship or academy appointment. If a recruiter, officer, BGO, etc. offers this, then that's great, and I hope the school is willing to work that into the ceremony. However, contacting ROTC units (that your child is not even attending) or higher headquarters and expecting them to send an officer to a multi-hour awards ceremony on a weeknight is.....less than considerate. ROTC units are minimally staffed, and the staff members are all coming off of sea tours, deployments, etc. The majority have families. If I had a local student who received a scholarship to my unit, I'd be very happy to attend a ceremony if I was available. However, going somewhere for 2-3 hours to do a 90 second presentation for a kid I don't even know.....yeah, no. Supporting awards ceremonies for every one of the literally thousands upon thousands of recipients nationwide is simply not feasible. And any expectation that a high school student (or parent) deserves to have someone show up because they feel they've "earned" something already is simply misguided. If this seems blunt, sorry, because it needed to be said.
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I think this message may be tough for us parents to hear, but I think it's healthy for us to hear this perspective. I think it's natural for parents in general to be proud of their kids and want that recognition, especially since the children of the parents on this forum are such high-achievers and overall pretty remarkable young adults. I think it's easy for us to get carried away with that pride and desire for recognition and this message maybe brings us back to earth a bit.
 
No need to apologize. Yes, presentations are nice; recognition is important and there is certainly a "PR" element that is good for the service branch. That said, I won't speak for NavyNOLA, but I bristled as I read some posters suggesting their DS/DD "deserved" all the hoopla. For me, it was the word choice that was problematic not the presentations themselves.
 
eljay60 said:
I did wear combat boots (Army Nurse Reserve) and DH was enlisted Navy. There are no longer ANY active bases in Michigan, other than Coast Guard. I probably won't start a JROTC, but I wish someone would.
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Thank you for your service you and DS could be awesome to have as leaders. Sadly the non-military moms we had to deal with were giving PT awards to kids caused they cried. But they didn't get I'd rather they tell my kid he didn't earn a medal and him cry than pass out from having locked kneed or just from standing at attention while waiting for parade time instead of allowed to get water. JROTC is really hard my son's old high school had to be given waivers a couple times because they didn't have 50 cadets. That also keeps them from getting any funding. The School board comes into it since they then have to have the courses approved which includes the drama over if the cadets can do weapons training. It was really a great program for my son. He came home from college and next day my house was infested with JROTC buddies from school. A few are home from college, most in ROTC. A few are waiting on their enlistment day and one took his basic law enforcement and now works at the prison. Great kids!
 
I, too, was thinking not just of the student but the PR. Seeing the big check could inspire a teacher, counselor or family member to think of ROTC or a SA as a route not yet considered.

As a professional for a large youth org in a former life, I get the windshield time is painful. If invited to a special ceremony by a youth, I'd bend over backwards and bring a small gift.

An old poem I summarize often- it won't matter what kinda car I drove or the gas money lost, but it will matter I made a difference (even a small one) in the life of a child.
 
I've always thought the big check presentation was over the top and reminds me of a Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes award or something. That being said, I think the military-related scholarships should be given the same presentation weighting as all the other scholarships in these awards ceremonies and should not be overlooked. I liked the way our school did it; they didn't allow any outside presenters, but for each graduate who was being recognized, they would have the kid come forward and they would read the list of all the awards and scholarships they were actually going to utilize, and simply handed them the certificates, awards, etc. all at once. So for example, DD had gotten both the NROTC and AROTC scholarships, but they only announced the NROTC one that she would be actually using, along with the various other outside scholarships she would be using.
 
We have two daughters who both received 4 year AFROTC scholarships (two years apart-at different high schools in different states) so I have some experience with this. Both daughters completed the form to have an AFROTC representative attend senior awards night. For the first daughter, the rep said they would attend and present but never showed up. Yup. Really.

When the second daughter received a scholarship, we confirmed the rep (from a different det in a different state) was coming and when we confirmed were informed they were unable to attend--six days before the ceremony. We were able to find an experienced retired AF officer who kindly agreed to present our daughter's scholarship and he did a great job (the crowd gasped when he told the value of the scholarship). It was a memorable moment.

Both of our daughters are extremely humble young women and have worked very hard for every opportunity they have ever had. That being said, I can certainly attest that having a representative present the award means a great deal to the scholarship recipient and their families. The kids have many challenges ahead of them; it is meaningful to take a breath and appreciate before starting the journey.

And, yes, the commissioning ceremony is amazing and emotional for all involved (our oldest daughter commissioned two days ago). And the challenges and journey continues. We are so proud.
 
I agree that the ceremony for ROTC is a huge PR bonus.

Our DS did have the award, but no big check. I recall sitting in the audience and as they talked about it you could hear parents reacting in awe, most of them with younger kids and how they never knew there was an AFROTC scholarship. After the ceremony the ALO was mobbed by parents wanting to know more info.
 
NavyNOLA said:
Well, I can no longer hold my tongue. Reading through this thread, there are a number of folks who seem to feel that their son or daughter deserves to have someone show up at a weeknight awards ceremony and personally present an ROTC scholarship or academy appointment. If a recruiter, officer, BGO, etc. offers this, then that's great, and I hope the school is willing to work that into the ceremony. However, contacting ROTC units (that your child is not even attending) or higher headquarters and expecting them to send an officer to a multi-hour awards ceremony on a weeknight is.....less than considerate. ROTC units are minimally staffed, and the staff members are all coming off of sea tours, deployments, etc. The majority have families. If I had a local student who received a scholarship to my unit, I'd be very happy to attend a ceremony if I was available. However, going somewhere for 2-3 hours to do a 90 second presentation for a kid I don't even know.....yeah, no. Supporting awards ceremonies for every one of the literally thousands upon thousands of recipients nationwide is simply not feasible. And any expectation that a high school student (or parent) deserves to have someone show up because they feel they've "earned" something already is simply misguided. If this seems blunt, sorry, because it needed to be said.
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DS' school awards night went off as planned and was outstanding. I believe Army and Navy do these things differently. The CAPT who did the honors was a true gentleman and a professional. He apologized for the initial screw-up, and confirmed his school was assigned this specific responsibility by Cadet Command.
 
DS high school award ceremony was last night. Honored to be presented with a "big check" by a member of a local rotc cadre even though he will not be attending that school. The overall experience and feedback from other students and parents was amazing.
 
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