PEORIA, Ill. – High school students from across Illinois learned about what it takes to be America’s next leaders at an open house Monday evening in Peoria.
The Service Academy Open House was hosted at the 182nd Airlift Wing. The open house showed students what it takes to be part of the nomination process to join one of the service academies.
William Mayo is a Blue and Gold Officer at the United States Naval Academy, and says they want to find candidates who are well-rounded. He says they receive up to 20,000 nominations per year, but only end up accepting around 1,400.
Mayo says they also help students through the process by answering questions they have about being nominated, along with communication and assisting with necessary documents.
Members of Congress are the ones who make the recommended nominations to the academies. Congressman Darin LaHood (R-Dunlap) says they’re looking for students who are the cream of the crop.
“It’s looking for leadership skills, whether that’s in sports, extracurricular activities at your school, student government, couple that with your grades with other things outside of school, and your test scores,” LaHood said.
LaHood says he talks to students about the interview process for nomination and what to focus on in high school to help improve and earn it.
One of the students in attendance was Kaleb Workman, a junior from Wyanet. He says the academy he was most interested in was the United States Military Academy in West Point.
“I’m looking more for military, but I think it would be a really good start to my military career,” Workman said.
Another student in attendance was Xzylur Martin, a sophomore from Sherrard who says his family has a background of serving, and came to the open house to learn more about being a naval aviator.
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