Ed. Note: The following is a news release from the William S. Hart Union School District. 

A Golden Valley High School sophomore has been awarded the national JROTC Award for Excellence in Academics with Merit.

Patrick Speers, a Cadet 2nd Lieutenant, was one of 14 JROTC students across the country to be presented the award, won with Merit or higher, by the Celebrate Freedom Foundation.

Over 525,000 cadets are in 3,500 high schools across the country and around the world.  These units were asked to submit nominations and those cadets nominated were asked to write a 450-word essay to explain “why it is important to promote patriotism, honor the military – past, present and future – and for America’s students, especially JROTC cadets, to excel in academics.”

The Blue Star Mothers of South Carolina evaluated all of the essays and selected the cadets who won this year’s JROTC Award.

According to Jose Bareng, Major, USAF (Ret), Senior Aerospace Science Instructor and Golden Valley HS AFJROTC, Patrick is one of the top cadets in the program.

“He volunteers for every community service event we have,” Major Bareng said.  “So far this school year, he has accumulated over 98 hours of community service.  He is an active member of our color guard team that presents the colors at varsity football games and many other major school events (Back to School Night, Open House, etc.).  Despite his busy schedule, he manages to maintain a 4.0 GPA.”

In addition to the essay, cadets had to demonstrate the following personal characteristics:

– Outstanding personal appearance (uniform and grooming)

– Display personal attributes such as initiative, judgment and self-confidence

– Courteous demeanor (promptness, obedience and respect for customs)

– Growth potential (capacity for responsibility, high productivity and adaptability to change)

– The highest personal and ethical standards and strong positive convictions

– The potential and desire to pursue a military career

– Rank in the top 5 percent in his/her AS class with a grade average of A or numerical equivalent rank in the top 15 percent of his/her academic class

– A positive attitude (toward JROTC and school)

To see a list of all the winners, go to the website.