Lemoore High School holds first ceremony honoring grads entering the military

Thursday, May 23, 2019 - 11:32am By The Leader Staff

Lemoore High School students take their military oaths as they plan to enter the United States Military upon graduation. Fourteen LHS students are planning on entering the military after high school.

The United States Armed Forces got a big boost Wednesday morning when the Navy, Marines, and Army earned 14 recruits, all upcoming Lemoore High School graduates. The school’s first ever Military Commitment Signing Ceremony, held in the school’s Event Center, began at about 11:45 a.m.

Parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends watched as representatives from the Navy, Army, and Marine Corps provided a contract and a pen and watched as the LHS seniors signed agreements to serve their country.

One of the signees, William Wilkins, earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy and will report to Annapolis, Maryland this summer.

Left to right: Victor Gonzalez, Noah Gonzalez and Jasmine Barrera sign their agreements to enter the armed services. All three have signed up for the U.S. Navy.

According to school officials, this was the first such signing of military recruits at Lemoore High School. Generally, several graduates, upon leaving Lemoore High School, sign up for the service. Lemoore High School Superintendent Debbie Muro suggested the school begin recognizing those students who opt for the military, and the school put it into action.

According to Naval Junior ROTC Instructor John Wolstenholme, 12 of 14 students were graduates of the NJROTC program. The local NJROTC sent five students to the Navy, six to the Marines, and one to the Army.

The newly signed recruits include:

Jasmin Barrera, Navy

Evelin Carrillo, Navy

Noah Gonzalez, Navy

Victor Gonzalez, Navy

Jazlyn Ibarra, Marines

Aurora Johnson, Marines

Branden Kaiser, Marines

Mekala Mallory, Army,

Joshua Operario, Marines

Christian Ondras, Navy

Mathew Ortiz-Hernandez, Marines