Lafayette High School • Mo 81st AFJROTC News

Beaumont Scout Camp October 2011

Upcoming Events

Abraham Lincoln Museum Field Trip 20 Sep 2011

Discovery Flights Smartt Field, St. Charles MO/Jet Corps Tour 27 Sep 2011

Beaumont Scout Camp High Ropes Challenge Course , 13 Oct 2011

City Museum Overnighter 27 Oct 2011

Wings Of Hope "Flipping for Hope" pancake eating contest, 15 Oct 2011, Chesterfield Valley, House of Pancakes

St. Patrick's Center and Cote Brilliante Elementary School Clothing Drive -- donations accepted thru 26 Oct 2011

Lakeworth Florida Drill Meet, 3 Dec 2011

Operation Food Search Canned Food Drive in conjunction with Rockwood Reading Week, March 2011

Dining Out Award Ceremony, 27 April 2011

Field Trips Pending: Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Cote Brilliante Elementary Spring Carnival, JROTC City Sister School

Scott Air Force Base Summer Leadership Camp, Jun 2011

Leadership Seminars/Camps pending Military Order of World Wars, University of Missouri, St. Louis American Wilderness Leadership Camp, Safari Club, Jackson Hole, Wyoming Society of American Military Engineers Construction Camp, Air Force Academy American Legion Boys-Girls State Program

Drill Meet Pending - Gateway Invitational

Recruiting Information -- Lafayette AFJROTC

Download Recruiting - Freshman Incoming Ltr to Parents 2010

Download AFJROTC Recruiting Flyer 2011-2012

Download Recruiting - Freshman AFJROTC Information Flyer 2011

Download AFJROTC Frequently Asked Questions

AFJROTC Academic Challenge

Lafayette High School Excels at the Air Force Junior ROTC Academic Challenge. This year’s competition was held at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia from Jun 24-28, 2011. It marked the first time Air Force, Army and Navy High School JROTC programs competed in a tri-service competition sponsored by the College Options Foundation. The top rated JROTC team at the end of the competition was Marmion Military Academy, an Army JROTC program from Aurora, Illinois. To become the number one JROTC unit nationally, Marmion started their preparation in November 2010 against 2100+ JROTC high school teams. Air Force started with 342 teams and Lafayette was one of 16 Air Force teams to reach the national competition. Our team captain was Tyler Romero and his fellow “academics” were Jacob Zerr, Tommy Moorkamp and Josh Holmes. It was a real kick to watch these young men compete against exceptionally bright students from across the United States and overseas – one JROTC team travelled from Germany and another from Guam. Competition was extremely tough with comprehensive questions in a college bowl like, timed format that covered science, mathematics, history, language arts and current events. When it was all said and done, Lafayette’s JROTC team finished in 3rd place among the Air Force competitors and in the top 8 nationally among the tri-service participants. Their academic performance was a remarkable achievement that speaks volumes about the terrific education our students receive at Lafayette and in the Rockwood School District. To our teaching colleagues at Lafayette – you are to be congratulated for job well done in developing these young. PS – kudos are also in order for Adam Brown and Ellie Bednarek who were original members of Lafayette’s team and actually competed in the first two preliminary rounds. Unfortunately, they had conflicting JROTC leadership commitments – Adam attended the Society of American Military Engineers Construction camp at the Air Force Academy and Ellie attended the Safari Club’s American Wilderness Leadership School in Jackson Hole, Wyoming – not too shabby alternatives. Tyler, Jacob, Tommy and Josh – we are very proud of your outstanding achievement.

Discovery Flights

Jet Corp tour at Chesterfield Airport + Discovery Flights at Smartt Field in St. Charles on September 27, 2011. Another great field trip involved our Aerospace Science II students who witnessed first hand operational facilities at Jet Corps followed by Discovery Flights on a Cessna 172 aircraft. For students who have never flown, this “trip” allowed students to experience the dynamics of flight in an up close and personal environment. Flights lasted approximately 25 minutes with FAA certified flight instructors providing educational insights to enhance classroom lessons on the science of flight.

Abraham Lincoln Field Trip

Abraham Lincoln Museum Field Trip September 20, 2011. Aerospace Science I visited the outstanding Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois. It was a great educational trip and a terrific way for new students to get to know each other.

Air Force Junior ROTC Parent Association Staff

New PA Staff for school year 2011-2012

President -- Mary Braun Vice President -- Kathy Bednarek Secretary -- Wendy Livingston Treasurer -- Kathy Sammons

Air Force Junior ROTC Picnic September 17, 2011 at Vlasis Park hosted by the AFJROTC Parents Association.

Lafayette High School 9-11 Memorial

Cadets participating in 10th anniversary of 9-11

Peter Navarro Patriot Scholarship BBQ

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JROTC Senior Legacy Project….our graduating seniors set in motion a remarkable “legacy project” with the "First Annual Peter Navarro BBQ on May 14, 2011. For those who may not know of Peter and his family, we encourage you to read the Suburban Journal story at the following link -- http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/metro/education/article_a4c79556-87b7-56c0-b057-ea9aa7902414.html Peter graduated from Lafayette in 2003, subsequently joined the Army and then was killed in Iraq on Dec 13, 2005 by an improvised explosive device. He was a terrific young man. What made his death even more tragic was that Peter’s younger brother, Daniel, had been killed in a car accident 6 months earlier. Daniel was also in JROTC. Every year, we take our freshman class to Jefferson Barracks to visit Peter and Daniel’s gravesites sharing with students who these fine young men were and the sacrifice that Peter made for our country. With his unfortunate death, a scholarship was established in his name. His parents requested that any donations in Peter’s honor be made to the Lafayette JROTC program. The response was heartwarming as veteran groups and local citizens donated nearly $3,500 for the scholarship fund. Since 2005, we have award $500 scholarships to graduating seniors in Peter’s name. To ensure we can honor Peter Navarro’s sacrifice for many years to come, the BBQ fundraiser will endow the Patriot Scholarship for many years to come. To the following seniors....we simply say thanks for your unselfish efforts for the Navarro family and Lafayette High School: Jared Applebaum, Alex Spradlin, Jessica Malke, Sean McGarity, Anthony McCormick, Rachel Horner, and Cejay Young.

Washington D.C. Trip

WASHINGTON D.C. Field Trip….an awesome trip for 46 cadets from Lafayette and Marquette High Schools – who were outstanding ambassadors for the Rockwood School District.

Visiting Mount Vernon, watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery, to the Holocaust and Smithsonian Museums, Manassas Battlefield, the Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, Iwo Jima, Air Force and Lincoln Memorials, The White House, Washington Monument and many more sights was just incredible. The trip concluded with an evening dinner cruise and dance down the Potomac on the Mount Vernon. Without question, this journey was extremely educational. To our chaperones – Kathy Bednarek, Kathy Sammons, Kelly Keys, Wendy Livingston, Art Romero, Scott Spradlin, and Senior Master Gary Wamble (Marquette High School), we cannot thank you enough for sharing your time and talents with the cadets. I would like to sincerely thank all the cadets and parents for allowing me to put another check mark next to my “bucket list” for making this trip a reality…, Colonel Mike Berenc.

Abraham Lincoln Museum Field Trip

Areospace Science 1 cadets from Lafayette and Marquette High Schools visited the outstanding Abraham Lincoln Museum in Spring field, Illinois again on September 14, 2010. It was a great eduicational trip and will help cadets from both schools to get to know each other and eventually collaborate on community service projects this year.

Scott Air Force Base Summer Leadership Camp-Summer 2010

For the summer of 2010, 12 cadets attended to Scott Air Force Base For Summer Leadership Camp. The purpose of this camp is to teach cadets leadership skills through sport activites, drill, and Career shadowing events. The Cadets that were chosen to go the camp were Alex Radetic, Lexi Lowenthal, Ellie Bednarek, Dilan Dupre, Toungdra Haynes, Drew Livingston, Garrett White, Kaleb Blechle, Anthony McCormick, Cejay Young, Aliah Ptah and Caitlin Huber. The camp lasted 1 week in which the cadets were set to a strict time schedual that started at 5:00am and ended at 10:00pm and every morning started with PT.

This is soon followed by breakfast, where cadets have to eat healthly because all the junk food is off limits. Some of the meals consisted of bacon, eggs, steak, fruit, chicken breast, salads, ect.
Then after breakfast they start their daily activities. through these activites the cadets learn leadership and teamwork.

So, summer leadership camp this last summer was a rewarding experince for the cadets who were selected to attend, It tought some important life and leadership skills that they will use for the rest of their life.

Missouri 81st Youtube presentations

Cadet Seniors Sarah Dao, Josh Ackerman and Adam Passer have created terrific youtube videos that reflect cadet activities througout the school year. Check'em out!!! AFJROTC Mo-81st (2010)

Alex Simon and Spencer Rolfe Rifle Exhibition Performance

Alex Simon Rifle Solo

Adam Passer Rifle Solo

Regulation Drill

Exhibition Drill

Dining Out May 2009

Annual event that recognizes the many accomplishments of cadets througout the year. Numerous scholarships and national/local awards were presented. Highlights of the evening were the induction of David and Tiffany Williams-Young into the Missouri 81st Hall of Fame and the hosting of former commanders dating back to 1996.

Scott Air Force Base Summer Leadership Camp Summer 2009

Photos of encampments







at Scott AFB, Illinois

Life Skills Walk Run N Roll 5K Fundraiser, April 2009

Cadets have partnered with the Life Skills organization for the past three years by supporting their 5K fundraiser. Located in Tower Grove Park, cadets sought sponsors for the 3 miles they ran as part of this endeavor. Life Skills mission is assist individuals with developmental and other disabilities to live and work with dignity within our community. Last year, we partnered with the Pacific High School Marine Corps JROTC program

Aircraft Modelling

The sophomore class recently completed their modeling lesson plan. This year’s exercise was one of the best ever with some terrific model builds that are now on display in the classroom. Cadet efforts were evaluated by Mr. Bill Stewart and Mrs. Dainne Tinucci both of whom are aircraft afficianados that have for years rated the modeling craft of our students. This year Cadets Alex Spradlin and Anthony McCormack finished first with Henkel Bomber followed by Khahyil Moore and Cameron Kurtzman builing an A-10 Warthog and Tyler Romero and Myra Whiting with their P-47 Mustang. Congratulation to all the cadets – you did a terrific job.

Cadet of the Month -- Cadet/Airman First Class Ellie Bednarek

Cadet/Airman First Class Ellie Bednarek was selected as December’s Cadet of the Month. Ellie is a bright young lady whose academic strengths, classroom participation, support of community service and just plain outstanding personality mark her as a future leader of the Missouri 81st. To the Bednarek family, we are very appreciative of your daughter and look forward to her future leadership in Air Force Junior ROTC.

Beaumont Scout Camp Confidence Course, April 2009

Each spring the AS-III class travels to Beaumont Scout Camp to assess their outdoor leadership skills. This confidence course is an outstanding asset to the St. Louis Community and has been used by the Missouri 81 throughout the school years to observe students in a setting other than the classroom

Cadet of the Month -- Cadet/Technical Sergeant Alex Spadlin

Cadet/Technical Sergeant Alex Spradlin was selected as December’s COM. Alex brings a spark to the unit with his obvious enthusiasm and support of unit activities. Through his community service, involvement in Cyber Patriot and drill competitions and a multitude of Corps activities, he demonstrates leadership for others to follow. To Scott and Julia Spradlin, thanks for sharing Alex with the Missouri 81st.