KHS quarterly awardees eyeing military service

Ngalongalo and Camacho were the first recipients of KHS’ Male and Female Students of the Quarter, which was given last week to honor Ayuyus who not only excel academically, but also show great character as a member of the community.

Both are members of the KHS Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps with Ngalongalo, now a junior, hoping to be accepted to the U.S. Military Academy of West Point in New York, while Camacho aims to enter the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs in Colorado. West Point graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army.

Candidates who want to enter in an academy of any of the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces need to apply directly and receive nomination from a member of the U.S. Congress or their delegate in the U.S. Territories—American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virigin Islands—they live in. The President and Vice President of the U.S. can also nominate cadets.

Ngalongalo now holds a rank of major in his fifth year with KHS’ JROTC program, while ninth grader Camacho has recently joined as private. Both say English is their favorite subject and they also enjoy the outdoors.

“I’m the same at school and at home. I don’t treat things differently and deal with people equally,” said Ngalongalo, who is the head altar server at the Santa Remedios Parish in Tanapag.

“I’m directly focusing with my SATs right now. And they are planning to make me the [KHS JROTC] batallion commander next year,” added Ngalongalo, who is also a member of the National Junior Honor Society.

Camacho, who was named by her parents to Polish saint Faustina Kowalska, added that she likes spending Saturdays hiking in Marpi or reading teen fiction or romance books on Wattpad, a mobile platform for books written by young authors.

“I hope to finish with a nursing degree or become a female pilot if ever I get into the U.S. Air Force Academy. I still have time to prepare and I’ll just do my best in everything I do,” added Camacho, who is a member of the Talofa Polynesian dance group.

KHS acting principal Leila Staffler said their leadership team, composed of faculty and staff, were the brains behind the Male and Female Students of the Quarter awards, whose candidates have gone over and beyond in representing the school in character and academics.

“The leadership team was thinking of a way to recognize students from each class that are nominated by the staff. It is a school-wide program with our goal is to motivate all students. We want to celebrate positivity in the school and we want to honor students who exemplify what it means to be an Ayuyu,” added Staffler.

“Providing a safe and challenging environment for students to develop and apply the skills and knowledge they learned in order to become productive members of the community is our mission here at KHS.”

Tiffany Robinson heads the rewards committee, which first made a research of what kind of rubric system other schools are using before coming up with their own. KHS used a rubric that measured the students’ key characteristics like attendance, work ethic, citizenship, and respect.

Stiffler said both Ngalongalo and Camacho are still eligible for nomination the next time they give out the award, which set to exemplify the character and academic achievements of each student.

“We want the award to be more exclusive that’s why we decided to have it school-wide and not give out to each grade level. I’m proud that a freshman and a junior were the first recipients of the award. Yes, they are still eligible even though they already won.”