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Sailors spend time with GW High students
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- Sailors from aircraft carrier USS George Washington speak to students at George Washington High School in Mangilao on Oct. 3. The sailors went to the school for a community relations event. (Leah Eclavea)
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- Sailors from aircraft carrier USS George Washington play basketball with students at George Washington High School in Mangilao on Oct. 3. (Leah Eclavea)
MANGILAO, Guam—Sailors from aircraft carrier USS George Washington spent time with students at George Washington High School in Mangilao on Oct. 3.
The sailors played a variety of sports with the students and talked with them about having a career in the Navy.
“We’re not just here to go out there and just show our presence,” said Navy Counselor 1st Class Michael Jimenez, USS George Washington. “We are here to show that we care about the community. We want to take care of the community in every way possible. We want to show that we’re a positive light and we want to make the best of everyone that we interact with.”
The sailors enjoyed interacting with the students and had a friendly basketball competition. Lt. j.g. Cole Yoos, USS George Washington chaplain, watched the games and spoke about how there was a connection between the sailors and the students because of the ship and the school mutually named after the first U.S. president.
“What we hope that our sailors will take away from interacting with these kids the understanding of how important it is to serve and give back to the local communities,” said Yoos.
Max Ronquillo Jr., the school’s activity coordinator, believes it is very important that the students and sailors interact with one other. “I think this is very, very inspirational,” he said. “GW itself is a very military community, having a lot of alumni [that] joined the ranks of the various armed services. So this will just reinforce that and will inspire the next generation to join the military somehow and contribute to our nation.”
Ronquillo also spoke about how the sailors are role models to the students and that it was important that the students are able to learn about making good decisions for the future.
“I think it’s a positive approach because there is a lot of kids that are interested in joining the military,” said GWHS principal Lynda Hernandez-Avilla. “It is nice to get firsthand experience from those who are already in the military.” (PR)
