Spring Family Weekend drew nearly 100 mothers of cadets to Missouri Military Academy. May 6-8. It was a busy time, with lots of activities in honor of cadets and their visiting mothers and grandmothers.
Activities began with the arrival of families Friday evening, and continued throughout the weekend. The
Middle School Science Fair and the annual Scholastic Book Fair were going on all weekend.
Saturday started with a Mothers’ Tea at 10 a.m. in the Barnard Hall Media Center. The
Colonels baseball team defeated Van-Far 5-2 on Brad Calvert Field on Saturday afternoon.
An annual highlight of the weekend was the
Festival of the Arts and
Kathryn Epple Art Show in Centennial Gymtorium on Saturday evening. Cadet drama, instrumental and vocal music performances and awards were featured at the Festival.
Sunday opened with a public pancake breakfast fund-raiser from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in the MMA Dining Hall, with proceeds going to the Eagle Boy Scout project of
Travis Skinner, ’12.
The annual Flower Ceremony, in which mothers, grandmothers or other special women pinned carnations to their cadets’ uniforms, took place at 9:45 a.m. to kick off Sunday activities in the MMA Fieldhouse. Cadets whose mothers had died received a white carnation from Mrs. Debbie Flanagan, wife of Academy President MajGen Robert M. Flanagan.
The Fusileers precision rifle drill unit performed at 9:45 a.m. under the leadership of cadet
Andrew Chow, ’12.
A battalion review in honor of mothers and grandmothers, and to recognize winners of the JROTC Superior Cadet awards followed. Winners of the Superior Cadet awards were:
Ryan Ma, ’11, LET 4;
Eui Jeong Chung, ’12, LET 3;
John Dillon, ’13, LET 2; and
Josh Pearson, ’14, LET 1.
After the review was completed, a special ceremony was held to rename the MMA Rifle Range the Alain M. Garcia Memorial Rifle Range in honor of a cadet who lost his life in a tragic accident in 2004-05. MajGen Flanagan thanked the family on behalf of the Academy.
Alain’s father, Ignacio, thanked MMA for recognizing his son, and for all the boys helped by the school over the years. He was joined by his wife, Blanca, son
Andres Garcia, ’13, and other family members as a photo and plaque were unveiled.
Cadets were free to spend the day with families Sunday afternoon, and Vespers at 6:30 p.m. wrapped up the weekend schedule. Mrs. Cynthia Perkinson, mother of Battalion Commander
Kyle Perkinson, ’11, of St. Louis, was the guest speaker.
Winners of the
Middle School Science Fair were announced Monday.