The Poughkeepsie High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, or AFJROTC, held its annual awards and promotions ceremony last month, an opportunity for the entire club to celebrate the accomplishments of each cadet with family, friends and faculty in attendance.
In addition to a change of command ceremony, roughly 30 students received promotions in rank, and awards in 10 categories were distributed.
Superintendent of Schools Gregory Mott was among those who attended the Feb. 6 event to celebrate the cadets.
“You have demonstrated character. Many of you have chosen discipline over convenience; teamwork over self-interest; responsibility over excuses – characteristics, truthfully, you’re going to need to exhibit in life beyond this moment,” Mott told them.
Mott later judged the cadets’ competition as each flight recited its motto in booming voices.
Cadets received ribbons – or Oak Leafs for those who have previously earned the ribbon in the category – in areas that included honoring academics; attendance; resilience; leadership; leadership development; color guard participation; service to the school, community or ROTC; patriotism, for those who helped raise or lower the school’s flag five or more times; and wearing their uniform on designated days.
Special recognition during the service award ribbon announcement went to Markyah-Sade Johnson, who formed a group she called the Eco Action Crew, which engaged in activities cleaning City of Poughkeepsie streets. The group included Adham Ahmed, Alanna McKenzie, Milton Kamura and Jumark Baxter.
Seven cadets were inducted to the Kitty Hawk Air Society, having met the eligibility requirements of scoring 90 or above in AFJROTC with a GPA of 80 or higher and 10 hours of community service completed. They included Ahmed, Pixie Brown, Zane Garcia, Jonathan Guzman, Jason Johnson, Skyler Jenkins and Yareli Juarez.