Douglas High School JrROTC cadet Ivan Euceda Bernales stands back after revealing the college he's attending as his fellow cadets applaud at the April 17 ceremony.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
Leave it to the student commander of the Tiger Battalion to add a little élan to a letter signing for Douglas High Career and Technology Education students.
Ivan Euceda Bernales had four signs indicating different colleges in front of him as he talked about what he planned to do after graduating. He punctuated the reveal by knocking down three of them and indicating he planned to attend Norwich University with a full-ride Navy ROTC scholarship.
“It will be worth it,” he said. “By becoming a corpsman I can save more lives out there.
Euceda Bernales was one of a dozen students who were recognized at Wednesday’s ceremony.
Seven of those students were members of the High School’s Jr. ROTC program.
ROTC Advisor retired Col. Mike Glynn said it was one of the biggest groups of cadets he’s seen going into the military in his more than four years at the school.
Five of the students are on civilian career paths including engineering and computer technology.
Career & Technical Education Coordinator Cade Baligad said the students were near to his heart because he was once one of them.
“Over the years, career and tech ed has kind of fallen by the wayside,” he said. “But through my lens at Douglas County we’re still strong. We’re still strong in the fact offer a lot of programs and we offer a lot of opportunities to your kids and that’s the reason they are here today.”
Baligad credited the idea to have a letter signing to School Resource Officer John Meyer.
Letter signing ceremonies are common for student athletes to announce where they are going to college.
Navy ROTC
Ivan Euceda Bernales
U.S. Army
Johnny Reinholz
LynnMarie Robascotti
U.S. Marines
Aaron Greenwood
Army National Guard
Conner Baird
Parker Gustafson
Autumn Mays
Computer Science
Ryan Wilson
Anthony Pacurar
Engineering
Elizabeth Gleason
Colby Grant
Kalie Mayotte
