Bayonet - Vol. 19, Issue 1

Fork Union Military Academy Middle School Volume 19, Issue 1 September/October 2013

Inside this issue:

The President’s Message

By RADM Burhoe

“This year’s start of school was even better than last year. While the Middle School Corps of Cadets size is smaller than anticipated, we are very pleased with the quality of our students, and particularly proud of our cadet leadership. I addressed the Middle School cadets to formally begin the school year, and was again impressed by the attentiveness of our MS cadets. Yesterday as I walked in front of the Dorothy Estes Dining Facility they were practicing military drill, and the young officer had them “present arms” (render hand salutes) just as I passed by. I told Betsy that I had a little trouble timing those

things as a young officer leading the Coast Guard’s Ceremonial Honor Guard, and this young cadet leader made it look effortless. This year we are emphasizing our newly published core values of Respect, Integrity, Faith, Character, and Discipline. I encourage you to talk about these five concepts when your sons are at home. I ask that you continue to pray for the faculty and staff as we lead these young men. We will continue to pray for your sons, as we educate, develop, and inspire them. Go FUMA!”

FUMA Adopts Core Values In order to more effectively steer FUMA in the direction that it needs to go, a set of “Core Values” has been identified. These represent the ideals that the academy wishes to impart to the entire Corps of Cadets: Respect

Character

Integrity

Discipline

Faith The FUMA Core Values will reinforce a foundation upon which all cadets can build, regardless of where they go after they leave us.

Headmaster’s Message

2

Commandant’s Message Middle School Band

3

Mrs. Payne’s Resource Tip Robotics at FUMA

4

Coming Soon...

5

Interview with a Soccer Player Cadet Attends National Boy Scout Jamboree

6-7

New Cadet Survival Guide

7

Orienteering

8

Soccer

9

JV Football

10

Cross Country Intramurals

11

Word Search

12

Did you know?

Every brick in John J. Wicker Chapel was

laid by the same man, Felix de Panicis.

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The Bayonet

Headmaster’s Message

By LTC Feathers It’s hard to believe, but you have been in school for a little over a month now. Most of you have lost your dazed and confused looks, and almost all of you seem to possess a good understanding of our expectations for you. We, the faculty and staff of the Middle School, have been impressed by just how easily so many of you have adjusted to this new way of life. Each day presents new challenges, and most of you are showing the effort and determination necessary to be successful as cadets at Fork Union.

As we mentioned to you during several of our orientation sessions, the key to your success at the Academy is your active involvement in the program. Your days are filled with activities and many opportunities for you to become involved. Classes, drill, athletics, inspections, study hall, and assorted meetings consume much of your time. Do your best as you move from activity to activity. Be the first to offer help to your teachers and your fellow cadets. Don’t wait to be asked. The enthusiasm that you exhibit will be well worth the energy you invest.

Judging from the first few weeks of school, we are encouraged by the general attitude, behavior, and overall performance of the Cadet Corps. Continue to give your best throughout the year. Our prayers and best wishes are with you.

Commandant’s Corner

By LTC Blanchetti The start of school is always such a welcome time, especially after a long and hot summer. Fall days at FUMA are a nostalgic time for me.

The cooler weather always revives me and reminds me of the new task at hand. There is so much opportunity in the beginning of the year, and everything always seems so new.

We have had a solid start to the 2013-14 school year. The officer corps is responding well to the challenges and pressures of their positions. The new cadets have assimilated well into cadet life. The Monday and Wednesday drill periods are as exciting as ever. While we still have a long road ahead of us until that magical day in May, I feel very optimistic with the group that we have here. Parents’ Weekend is but the first in a set of steps towards summer 2014. My hope is that the Corps is able to carry the enthusiasm and energy that they have now through the end of the year.

Through Company Competition and the all-around rigors of cadet life, we are really seeing a Corps form out of the large group of individuals that matriculated in August. It is through their strength as a bonded group that the cadets will see their greatest success this year.

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Middle School Band

By CW3 Patterson

The Middle School Band has started strong this year! Eleven cadets have signed up to learn to play in the band as an exploratory and fourteen are joining us on Wednesdays as an introduction to music.

Coach Rodney Carter asked last year if it would be possible to allow all of the 6th and 7th grade Middle School students to learn about music through the Wednesday lesson times and it is looking like a great plan. Twenty-five cadets will be exposed to band music in the FUMA Middle School this year!

Each year several Middle

School cadets also come to the Upper School and join the older cadets. This year, cadets Oshari Baldwin, Ben Chiovaro, Dalton Fowler, Micah Giszack, Denzel Hunter-Shaw, and Adrien Mitchell came from the middle school band of last year, and have assumed strong roles in the High School Band. Nearly 22% of the Upper School band is made up of students who got their musical start in the FUMA Middle School Band!

Here are some cadet thoughts on why they like the Middle School band.  Jared Giszack: “ I like band

because it allows me to learn instruments I never would have thought to learn before.”  Peter Cagnina: “I like band because it allows me to learn something that isn’t school related.”  David Muench: “I want to do band because I like to play drums.”  Benjamin Gary: “I like band because when I started band in the 6th grade it was fun and inspiring!”

Go FUMA Middle School Band Go FUMA!

Mrs. Payne’s Resource Tip: Use the 3 R's of Reviewing to improve reten on of material: Reread your notes,

Rewrite your notes, Reinforce (add informa on) to your notes.

This helps keep material fresh in your mind.

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The Bayonet

Robotics at FUMA

By CPT Gottschalk As an educator of math and science I have always been fascinated by automation and robotics. This past year I have dedicated my time to researching, planning and  integrating a robotics program at Fork Union Military Academy. It has been a fruitful endeavor with much interest. I currently lead a Middle School Robotics Club where my students build first generation RCX Mindstorm robots. In addition, to the Middle School club, I also coach the Upper School’s FTC robotics team, the Blue Devils. It is my goal to enhance STEM learning at Fork Union Military Academy and provide the impetus for innovation through design.

Left: Cadets Lee, Greer, and Ojeikere get started on their robot.

Below left: CPT Gottschalk looks on.

Below right : Cadets Marlow, Miller, and Yescas, J. hard at work.

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Coming Soon……

New series books from some of our favorite authors. Popular with Middle School:

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy's instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea's forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors from both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape? r obe Oct

8

What if your whole world was a lie?

What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?

What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The explosive conclusion to Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times bestselling Divergent trilogy reveals the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent. er tob Oc

22

Greg Heffley's on a losing streak. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, has ditched him, and finding new friends in middle school is proving to be a tough task. To change his fortunes, Greg decides to take a leap of faith and turn his decisions over to chance. Will a roll of the dice turn things around, or is Greg's life destined to be just another hard-luck story? r5 be m ve No

Will Treaty has come a long way from the small boy with dreams of knighthood. Life had other plans for him, and as an apprentice Ranger under Halt, he grew into a legend—the finest Ranger the kingdom has ever known. Yet Will is facing a tragic battle that has left him grim and alone. To add to his problems, the time has come to take on an apprentice of his own, and it’s the last person he ever would have expected. Fighting his personal demons, Will has to win the trust and respect of his difficult new companion—a task that at times seems almost impossible. ber v em o N

Book covers and summaries from Amazon.com.

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The Bayonet

FUMA Cadet attends National Boy Scout Jamboree Throughout his time in the Boy Scouts of America, eighth grade Cadet Jack Greenspon has enjoyed some the best experiences imaginable. Among the highlights of his adventures in scouting are the time as a Cub Scout when he had his first flight in a small engine airplane and the time he spent the night on a WWII submarine. He has attended scout camp and taken part in all sorts of scout activities. This list continues to grow.

This summer, he had the privilege of attending the 2013 National Boy Scout Jamboree which was held for the first time at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. “The Summit” as it is known, is the new permanent home to the National Scout Jamboree and will also serve as a High Adventure Base for the Boy Scouts of America.

Cadet Greenspon enjoyed the opportunity to learn many new skills, try activities never before attempted and make friends with Boy Scouts from across the nation and even around the world. Some of the options available to the scouts included white-water rafting, mountain climbing, and repelling. There was a high-ropes course, and several zip lines set up so that scouts could take a canopy tour over via zip line over the tree tops. Among Cadet Greenspon’s favorite activities were a challenging mountain biking course, hiking to the summit of the Summit, the waterfront activities, and participating in a challenge created jointly by the Boy Scouts of America and the United States Navy Seals.

The mountain biking course consisted of a thorough training in which experts in the field helped to teach the boys how to safely maneuver the obstacles found along the mountain biking trails, and how to manipulate the bikes safely through hazards and down some intense inclines.

The trails used were built by professionals for the scouts and have been rated among the best on the east coast.

Cadet Greenspon’s contingent of scouts from the Stonewall Jackson Area Council was fortunate to be selected to be the very first to get to hike the trail to the summit of the Summit. “This was an amazing hike and to know that you were among the first group to get to hike at the newest scouting high adventure base, and the permanent home of the National Jamboree, is an awesome feeling. The views from the summit were incredible and well worth the effort it took to reach the top!” reported Greenspon.

At the waterfront, scouts were able to cool off, swim and play in an area supervised by trained staff. One of the best activities there consisted of several on water obstacles the scouts had to maneuver. The obstacles were arranged so that the boys could race with one another through a course, similar to what you might have seen on the television show, “Wipe-out”.

In order to participate in the “Summit Seal Team Challenge” at Jamboree, a scout first had

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to qualify by having attained the scout rank of Star scout and then completing certain merit badges before attending the Jamboree. The required merit badges included: Citizenship in the Nation, Personal Fitness, Swimming and Lifesaving. To meet the other requirements of the challenge a scout also had certain prerequisites to finish while attending the Jamboree, including the hike to the summit, and successful completion of at least one program area (In Greenspon’s case, the mountain biking program). The final and most grueling requirement of the challenge consisted of attaining a passing score on the Navy Seal Physical Screening Test (PST). Current members of the United States Navy Seals were at the Jamboree to administer the PST. The SEAL PST consists of completing the following five components in order within a specified time period. Take a look at the minimum scores required to pass: Physical Screening Test

Minimum

Optimum

Swim 500-yard breaststroke or sidestroke

12:30

9:00

Push-ups

50

90

Curl-ups

50

85

Pull-ups

10

18

Run 1.5 miles

10:30

9:30

With approximately 35,000 scouts attending the Jamboree, there were only about 150 who earned this distinction. Greenspon was the 26th scout to successfully complete the challenge. He enjoyed meeting the SEALS and thanked them for their service to our country.

New Cadet Survival Guide

By Cadet Zac Miller Class of 2018

A few tips for new cadets to survive at FUMA: -Stay out of trouble. The more demerits you get, the less freedom you have. Â -Do good things to earn merits. The more merits you earn the more likely you can earn leaves.

-Make sure you hang around the right people. If you hang out with the right people they can hold you accountable and keep you out of trouble.

These are a couple of simple tips to stay out of trouble at FUMA.

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Middle School cadets are expected to participate in a sport each season.

Sports offered for the fall include Jr. Prep Football, Middle School Soccer, Orienteering, and Cross Country. Intramurals are also offered as a choice for cadets who are not interested in one of the team offerings. A complete roster for each activity follows. Be sure to attend as many sporting events as you can and cheer on your fellow cadets!!

Orienteering

By Cadet Zac Miller Class of 2018

Orienteering is a sport where you run through types of terrains trying to find these points. The sport is sort of like cross country except you need the brains. The head coach is LTC Muench, and the assistant coaches are Coach Moore and Coach Smith. We practice long runs for endurance and core workouts often. The sport is difficult at first, but once you learn the ropes it becomes much easier.

Fall Orienteers: Jared Giszack Zac Miller Scott Robel

James McMurtrie  Timi Ojeikere Nathaniel Strickland

John Meheen Hardy Pemberton Zachary Vance

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One Cadet's Thoughts on Playing Soccer

by Cadet J. Henriques The soccer team has its ups and downs. I'm sure it's like every other athletic team, but I'm a first year cadet so what do I know? From the off-campus games, to the fast food, to the amazing sense of winning I get playing on the "A Team," It’s a lot of fun. If you don't know, the "A" team played against Collegiate and won 7-0.

Playing soccer is one of the best things for cadets who aren't on Unsatisfactory Conduct. That’s the basis of why I try to keep myself on Excellent Conduct, that and the fact you get to enjoy off-campus activities. The bus ride is probably one of the best parts of playing soccer because you get a nice nap before you play. It is nice to have off-campus games because: 1) You play on different fields and get used to playing on different fields.

2) You get to play more games and become a better player.

3) Best of all you get to have fast food!

Another benefit of soccer is fast food. I think this may just be my personal favorite.

Right after we have a hard run, lose weight, and gain muscle, we get to eat cookies, brownies, chicken wings, and best of all, a McFLURRY! Then we gain weight back and strengthen our muscles.

My absolute favorite thing is winning. Although there are lots of the great benefits to being on a sports team, winning is still the best feeling in the world! If you are not on a sports travel team I advise you to practice to get on one!

Middle School Soccer Team: Blake Chiovaro John Graves-Marchand Hunter Johnson Irie Little David Muench David Scher Brennan Stone Diaz Tompkins Julian Yescas

Alec Durr Tai Greer Chase Kaufman David Middleton

Joseph Pham Eli Shaw CJ Taylor Justice Tyler

Andrew Estes Joshua Henriques Corey Lawrence Cainon Miles Mical Ramos Thomas Snow Steven Tidman Chasyn Yescas

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JV Football

By Cadet Nick Johnson, #20 JV football is fun but it's a lot of hard work, especially when you’re in the 8th grade going up against 9th and 10th graders.You don't get much playing time, because all the 10th graders are the main starters. There are some perks to being the young guys though.

Yesterday in practice Joshua Kirby had to block me. He's 6'3”. I grabbed him and threw him on the ground. Immediately the entire team just started whooping and hollering.

There's nothing better than that! Also we get to play in the freshman game two years in a row. And in Larry's case it's three. Overall, JV football is a great experience and if I had to do it again I would in a heartbeat.

Middle School JV Football players:

Larry Elder

Jack Greenspon

Nick Johnson

Logan Justice

Trevor Lee

Cameron Smith

Cross Country Fork Union always has a solid cross country team, and Middle School cadets always contribute to the effort. This year is no different! At a recent meet, team members Scott Boyd and Jonathan Ilori gave solid performances and finished well. Orienteer JD Yescas ran as well, and took first place on the

three mile course. Look for big things from these guys in future meets!

Cross Country Members: Scott Boyd

Jonathan Ilori

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Intramurals

By Cadet Tyson Marlow

Intramurals are pre y fun. We get to do cool stuff like play football, basketball, ul mate Frisbee and other sports. I also like how the USA's do it because they par cipate with us and make it fun. They each are really good at certain stuff and destroy us in a fun way. Jensen could take one of our heads off with a dodge ball, and I don't want to get trucked by Besse e, so I avoid him in football. And Wang is oddly good at Ul mate Frisbee.

However, with all there is to like about intramurals, it’s not always not fun because we have to do calisthenics and we only have 5 kids to play with most of the me. We have some kids who take the game too seriously, throw fits when things don't go their way, and act cocky when they do. They are always complaining about one thing or another and act like we are in the Super Bowl, not intramural football.

In conclusion, intramurals have both its advantages and disadvantages. I would recommend it to kids who don't like real compe on and just play sports to have fun. If you are serious about sports and want to get somewhere with it, love the compe on and thrill of winning, then intramurals is not your thing. To be honest, if I would've known what it was like before I joined, I wouldn't have joined. But then again, not everything is for everybody.

Intramurals

By Cadet Elie Bracy In Intramurals, we can play things like basketball and football. We get to watch football and soccer

games , and we can just sit back and enjoy our friends. You might think it sounds boring, but when you get the hang of it, you are going to like it. You might want to try intramurals.

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FUMA Middle School Word Search S E M M A R K G G N L T D N F Z Z P R E P V P C N

F W E E K E N D T G H E I E A B T Q F U I F Q O M

E G I W S P P I Z J O A A N M I C H X E L K D M S

A J H A P H D S O V P T F V U E T T Y R S P F D S

T X Z M K U F A I T H E T D E D R S N B I T T I C

BLANCHETTI BUTT CARTER CHARACTER CHRISTIAN DEMERITS DISCIPLINE FAITH FEATHERS GOTTSCHALK GREENSPON

H A R W D B M N U S W F Q S T G J I I B A O U U I

E Y E I P M W J G V N F W N C F K W T R H D Y B M

R E T C A R A H C X L N O O Q H U K D S H G D M T

S G R K P O Q O L J Q M M L S G A T U U L C K Y J

P M A G W K K N Q Z W Z X T S Z N L L B N S A E V

W A C H W C Z U K Q M A Y I X T K I K J R N D S P

S V R J H Y T Q Y V Y Y A N T I R R T X J D K Q X

B T Z A X T K P Y T G V E G C D E M A A O Z J P P

L I I Q D J A R F X Z K B X R S C X X F E K D E M

HAISLIP INTEGRITY KEATING KRAMMES LEAVE LINKOUS MERITS MILITARY NOLTING OFFICERS PARADES PATTERSON

A A S R S E A W I Y P R E F P X Z Z B U A K L B S

N O M M E T S N E X J O L O D I S C I P L I N E K

C M Q S I M T R O U N N N T R D C G A H N R D O T

H S K L F E M T R C O S A I K B W Y C K O A O F C

E C I V G R H J S P I R M E J Z N P O W S I Q O Z

T M E R O V L N S B H T I M S E C U N H R Q L J U

T A I F U H S N I O F F I C E R S Y F F E P E Q E

I T I J V F E L T S L A T Z R Q H T D M T W V I C

Y N U H Z E I X W S L T C X X D E L J M T J C J C

U J R O R T M K W G U H I S O O R S U E A A O S C

J O Q G Y U J M V B H J O K P B K S M P P C N Q Q

PAYNE RESPONSIBILITY SHERK SMITH UNIFORM WEEKEND