Posted on 07/14/2006 8:55:13 AM PDT by TomB
On Sept. 11, 2001, Frank Rizzo – then an eighth-grader – decided he wanted to fight for his country.
Frank, from Geistown Borough, and four of his classmates from Bishop McCort High School will receive military training upon graduation.
“On 9/11, our country went under attack,” Frank said. “I wanted to be proactive and serve for our country.”
Frank and Shannon Yingling of Upper Yoder Township have been appointed to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
Shannon spent time at the academy this past summer and said she left feeling motivated and determined.
“No other school I looked at even compared to it,” she said.
Shannon said the physical training encourages students to strive to be the best.
“You push yourself to do what you don’t think you can do,” said Shannon, who was captain of McCort’s cross country and basketball teams.
She said cadets are challenged mentally and physically.
Shannon said she will be able to apply the leadership skills she has learned at Bishop McCort to her work at the academy.
“Everybody has to look out for each other. You are there working together,” she said. “Applying that is going to help me through the first year.”
Frank, a football player, agreed.
“You spend a lot of time in close quarters with your football team,” he said. “That will carry over in the Naval Academy.”
Frank said the academy prepares students morally, mentally, physically and academically.
“The academy teaches core principles that you can use and pass down to your kids,” he said. “They are lessons you hold onto forever.”
David Heider of Ligonier has been appointed to the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I.
“Sept. 11 really hit home,” he said.
“I felt I should go out and do something.”
Christopher Mendillo of Stonycreek Township has been accepted to the Virginia Military Institute, Lexington.
“They teach you almost every life lesson in a military school,” he said.
He looks forward to learning about character and morality.
“I’m so thankful for everything we have been given,” he said. “I feel like I should give back.”
“I think it’s important that people should stand up for our country and what we believe in,” he said.
David said his involvement on the swim team, as an Eagle Scout and as a member of the Model UN team, has prepared him for the preparatory school.
“I feel like all of those things have made me whole,” he said.
Ken Salem, McCort’s assistant principal, said this is the first year McCort has had four students appointed to military academies.
“We are very proud of their efforts,” Salem said. “We think it’s a great honor for them to be accepted into an academy. It shows the underclassmen they can achieve great things.”
In addition, Jonathan Angello, a senior, received a four-year ROTC scholarship to Lock Haven University.
“Since I was a little kid I have always been interested in the military,” he said.
Both of Jonathan’s grandfathers were in the Navy and encouraged him to follow their footsteps into the military.
Serving as a youth mentor for Outdoor Odyssey and as treasurer for the Beginnings Inc. junior board, Jonathan has gained leadership positions.
Outdoor Odyssey has allowed him to mentor younger students from the region.
“You can learn a lot about kids,” he said. “They think more simply than the complex way adults think.”
The Beginnings Inc. junior board promotes the nonprofit organization’s special services for children with developmental delays.
Jonathan said he plans to study criminology at Lock Haven.
As a requirement of the scholarship, he will take basic training during the summer of his junior year.
“I have always wanted to be a special forces ranger,” he said.
Great job.
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