Ever since junior high, Colleen Judd Sabat knew she wanted to join the United States Marine Corps. So while attending Riverhead High School in the 1980s, she joined the district’s National Junior Reserves Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) program at her father’s suggestion.
Riverhead School District officials announced Tuesday that 10 Riverhead NJROTC cadets received exemplary personal appearance awards at Friday’s annual inspection and Pass-In-Review. READ
If you saw a bunch of people walking past you with a smile on their face Sunday morning, it’s likely they had a belly full of pancakes and bacon. READ
Ask Lt. Col. Peter McCarthy about his personal accomplishments as leader of the Riverhead Navy Junior Reserves Officers Training Corps and he’ll likely tell you about NJROTC members and their accomplishments rather than what he’s done to help get them there.
The Riverhead Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps drill team finished first overall at Saturday’s Area Four Regional Drill Meet in Mount Holly, N.J.
The Riverhead NJROTC drill team in 2012. (Credit: Courtesy, file)
The Riverhead NJROTC is hosting its annual fundraiser April 5 between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the high school.
Nearly 100 gift certificates and 60 gift baskets are expected to be included in the raffle. Over 150 gifts will be available, including: autographed NY Islanders and Jets memorabilia, winery tours, hotel stays, ferry tickets and jewelry.
The total value of the prizes is about $9,000, officials said. Proceeds from the raffle will go toward new equipment and drill meet travel expenses. Riverhead High School, 700 Harrison Ave, Riverhead.
The drawing is scheduled for 2 p.m.
For more information, visit http://www.corwincorner.com/NJROTC/auction.htm.
COURTESY PHOTO | Naval Science Instructor Lt. Col. Peter McCarthy, second from left, with Riverhead NJROTC cadets.
Riverhead High School’s award-winning Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps will be reporting for duty this month around the Riverhead community.
Cadets sang Christmas carols Friday night along with the Lions Club at the Senior Care Center in Riverhead. The NJROTC unit also plans to work with the Riverhead Rotary Club in the high school cafeteria next Friday afternoon to make 200 Christmas food baskets for the town’s needy families.
On Thursday, cadets will participate in the unit’s annual Area Managers Inspection, known as AMI, at 9 a.m. in the high school gym. Riverhead’s unit is lead by Naval Science Instructor Lt. Col. Peter McCarthy.
The next drill meet is set for Dec. 21 at Mattituck High School, in which about 11 schools and nearly 500 cadets will compete between 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Riverhead’s NJROTC unit has earned several awards in recent months.
On Sept. 28, the unit competed at the SUNY Maritime Drill Meet and won third place in the overall competition. Cadet Aleki Lui took home the first-place award in the color guard event.
At the drill meet competition in Bethel, Conn., the unit also placed third in the overall category. In addition, Cadet James McEntee earned second place in the armed platoon event and Cadet Ashlyn Whyard took home a fourth-place award in the personal inspection competition.
Cadet Donald Visek finished in first place at both the Maritime and Bethel drill meets in the unarmed platoon competitions.
PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO | Riverhead school board vice president Greg Meyer calls for a vote on the NJROTC resolution during Tuesday night’s meeting.
Federal funding for Riverhead’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program hasn’t been threatened yet by the government shutdown. But now, the program won’t be in jeopardy, even if the funding dries up.
The Riverhead school board approved a resolution at its meeting Tuesday night that allows the district to use money from the general fund to pay for the program. Superintendent Nancy Carney said the resolution was a precautionary measure to keep the program afloat in case federal funds are held back.
Had the resolution not been signed, the district would have been unable to use its funds to pay for the program without board approval, Ms. Carney said. Board vice president Greg Meyer also said the district didn’t hear that the federal funding would be cut, but wanted to play it safe.
Lt. Col. Peter McCarthy, the program’s senior naval science instructor, said in an email Monday that he is “pleased to see [the board] are looking at the possible impacts of the shutdown and are planning to keep things on track.”
The board also unanimously approved a settlement agreement involving a “non-instructional” employee.
Last month, the school board OK’d Ms. Carney’s recommendation to suspend a “non-instructional” employee without pay for 30 days pending an investigation. Though school officials did not provide information about the settlement approved Tuesday, Ms. Carney did say the settlement wasn’t monetary.
The board also heard a presentation from Ms. Carney and Michael Griffin from the nonprofit security group Project SAFEguard. Mr. Griffin described how the district’s security upgrade through SAFEguard made it possible for district administrators and first responders to use an online map of Riverhead High School to view live camera footage.
The district has also installed 45 new security cameras that can zoom and rotate, built a new security office that combines digital and analog security features being used by the school, and will implement SAFEguard at the middle school, Ms. Carney said.
