Students attend prestigious summer academies

Students attend prestigious summer academies for leadership and sailing

Admiral Farragut Academy has been well represented this summer at various leadership programs, which have included the Naval Academy Summer Seminar, the NJROTC Area Seven Leadership Academy, the Sail Academy, and LeaderSail. Here is the list of the cadets who have attended these programs with a brief description of each academy:

Naval Academy Summer Seminar

Listed are the students with their position on the Regiment this year 2016-17.

• Zach Fine ‘17, B Battalion Commander
• Kyndal Olander ‘17, A Battalion Commander
• Shawn Simon ‘17
• Camille Walker ‘17, Community Services Officer

The three, week-long sessions introduces prospective Naval Academy applicants to the unique challenges of life as a midshipman. According to the USNA Public Affairs Office, students experience many facets of academy life in which they attend academic classes ranging from oceanography to martial arts, participate in ethics and leadership workshops, perform best boarding school drills and conduct a number of physical activities.

Having four students from Farragut attend such a prestigious program is quite the accomplishment considering approximately 7,000 students throughout the world submit applications. Each summer, there are 2,500 openings with 850 students in each of the three sessions.

A typical day at Summer Seminar begins with an early morning physical fitness routine, usually consisting of a two-mile run followed by calisthenics. After breakfast, students attend two academic workshops of their choice taught by academy faculty. Students participate in noon meal formation — a tradition at the Naval Academy. The rest of their day is filled with best boarding school drill and other team-building exercises. The students also participate in the Naval Academy’s candidate fitness assessment and the Navy physical readiness test.

NJROTC Area Seven Leadership Academy

• Stephanie Bailey ‘18
• Trevor Bennati ‘17
• Alina Dixon ‘17, Logistics Officer
• Ethan Lipsky ‘18
• Kyndal Olander ‘17,
• Victoria Padovan ‘18, Administrative Officer

Every summer, Admiral Farragut Academy hosts the NJROTC Area Seven Leadership Academy. This Academy is usually held in early June and normally consists of two sessions that run from Sunday to the following Saturday. Although the Academy is held at Farragut, attendance is controlled by the NJROTC Area Manager. Farragut, along with other Florida schools, compete for a limited number of quotas at the Academy.

Leadership Academy is intended for upcoming juniors and seniors and is designed to help teach and motivate them for potential leadership positions at their individual Units. Leadership Academy is physically, emotionally and mentally demanding, but a very rewarding experience. For Admiral Farragut Academy, the Director of Naval Science is responsible for ensuring that only the top candidates are recommended for this training. The main objective of Leadership Academy is to return a highly motivated cadet who will provide leadership for the unit for the next school year–someone who can come in and supervise, organize and train other unit members.

Additionally, our alumni (and with special consideration, our seniors) often participate in leadership roles as counselors. This summer, Katryna Thomas ‘12, Rachel Goldstein ‘16, Kollyne Thomas ‘16, and Richard Dunleavy ‘17 (Regimental Commander for the 2016-17 academic year), served as counselors.

NJROTC Area Seven Sail Academy

• Stephanie Bailey ‘18
• Alina Dixon ‘17
• Drew Geralds ‘18
• Chris Hastrup ‘17
• Emma Hastrup’19
• Clayton Lamm ‘17

The Sail Academy is designed as a small boat sail training program focused on teaching seamanship and small boat sailing/racing. Each cadet was on the water for two sailing sessions each day, using similar sailboats as the ones at Farragut. Though the focus is on sailing, the curriculum also offers opportunities for leadership and personal fitness development. Directed by NJROTC Area 7 instructors at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, the one week camp is a summer sail training event for qualified cadets in NJROTC. With over six hours of sailing scheduled each day, evening classes, morning PT, athletic events, a regatta and a beach volleyball tournament, the days are challenging and incredibly rewarding. All six of our cadets successfully completed The Sail Academy. In doing so, they received The Sail Academy aiguillette and medal. The cadets from Farragut also received the “Skipper ‘B’ Qualification” from the US Navy Sailing Association.

JROTC LeaderSail

• Kyndal Olander ‘17
• Clayton Lamm ’17
• Camille Walker ‘18

LeaderSail is an exciting and demanding leadership development program built around sail training and marine exploration. Developed by JROTC instructors, and specifically tailored to JROTC cadets from all services, the program provides hands on leadership and seamanship training. Based in the British Virgin Islands, LeaderSail offers unparalleled sailing aboard a 50-foot offshore yacht, snorkeling in the coral reefs, and island exploration opportunities set in a tropical paradise. Students also may participate in training with the British Virgin Island Search and Rescue or US Coast Guard.