The Lafayette Parish School System held a formal ribbon cutting ceremony at Ovey Comeaux High School for the new Navy JROTC building on Friday, May 6, 2022. LPSS school board members and administration, community leaders, and Ovey Comeaux High School JROTC staff and students were in attendance.
The ceremony began with a welcome led by the Navy JROTC Cadets, leading the Pledge of Allegiance and opening remarks from ITI Charles Young, the Naval Science Instructor. Mr. Young spoke about how the new facility will be the start of creating experiences for cadets that are designed to provide areas of study that help best prepare them for their future college and career experiences. He went on to say that JROTC develops cadets’ life-long skills for learning, sound moral character, and regard for the welfare of the community.
The ceremony ended with a ribbon cutting and a few words from Principal Renee White. Mrs. White spoke of how NJROTC is a vibrant and growing citizenship development program on campus. She went on to say, “This ceremony marks a historic milestone in the life of our school and district. This program has been a vital part of our campus for the past twenty-seven years and I can’t wait to see how it grows with the addition of the new building.”
The new 5,838 sq. ft. JROTC building includes a new concrete paved drill deck, two classrooms, changing rooms, and secure storage rooms, and three-lane rifle range. These amenities will allow our academy directors and Navy JROTC cadets to fully embrace all aspects of the program, so that our cadets graduate from the program prepared to excel in their post-secondary careers. It is with the support of board president, Tommy Angelle and his fellow board members that expansion projects like this JROTC facility are possible, particularly former board member Dr. Erick Knezek, whose personal connection to the JROTC program is part of the reason that this building idea was able to come to fruition.