Burgess, Palenapa to attend West Point conference

MADISON – The Military Child Education Coalition has selected two Bob Jones High School students to attend a prestigious conference at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The coalition has invited Bob Jones sophomores Quinn Burgess and Jacob Palenapa to participate in the Frances Hesselbein Student Leadership Program Oct. 22-26 at West Point. Established by the Military Child Education Coalition in 2006, the program offers select students an intensive leadership-building experience.

Burgess and Palenapa will be among the team’s 10 members who live in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Texas and Utah, along with Belgium and Germany.

“All of these sophomores or juniors on the team are active in the Student 2 Student program or S2S,” Bob Jones counselor Sonja Griffith said. Military Child Education Coalition developed the S2S program, which Madison City Schools has founded at Bob Jones and James Clemens high schools and Liberty and Discovery middle schools.

“The S2S goal is 100-percent acceptance of new students as they transition in and out of their new schools,” Griffith said. “S2S is designed with the military child in mind and has grown to include all transitioning students.”

S2S bases its work on five core values: leadership, academics, service, finding the way and relationships. Each value builds an S2S program on a local school campus that assists the transitioning students as they learn more about their campus and the culture and community of their new home.

Burgess and Palenapa will spend the week talking with influential leaders, sharing ideas and challenges of regarding their local program, and participating in team-building activities that West Point faculty, cadets and the MCEC Student Programs Team will coordinate.

“Jacob Palenapa and Quinn Burgess are committed to return to Bob Jones with their new skills to improve their local S2S program,” Griffith said. “With more than 200 active S2S programs globally, this is a great honor for the Bob Jones High School community and school district.”

Military Child Education Coalition, a 501(c)3 global nonprofit organization, focuses exclusively on the well-being and needs of America’s approximately 4 million military-connected children.

For more information, visit militarychild.org.