In Joint Awards Presentation, Students Receive ROTC STEM Scholarships

First Lt. Rachel Szall, USAF, presided as master of ceremonies over the joint AFCEA Lexington-Concord and Association of Old Crows (AOC) Patriots' Roost, an annual ROTC scholarship luncheon held in April in Bedford, Massachusetts. The event recognized 42 of the most outstanding AFCEA and AOC ROTC cadets and midshipmen from across northern New England with $1,000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) scholarships. Brig. Gen. Jack Hammond, USA (Ret.), executive director, Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Home Base Program, delivered an inspirational address on military service and leadership. Col. Stephen Brooks, USAF, chapter vice president, ROTC affairs, presented $21,000 in scholarships. Gen. Hammond then joined Col. Brooks in presenting the Gen. Bernard Schriever Award, which carries an additional $1,000 scholarship, to Tessa Winkel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the top cadet among her peers. Col. Brooks and Pat Dagle, AOC director of scholarships, presented tokens of appreciation to Gen. Hammond, and Lt. Szall gave special thanks to Col. Brooks and the other volunteers for orchestrating the event. In all, a total of $44,000 in AFCEA and AOC STEM scholarships was presented. Chapter ROTC award winners included: Army Cadet Yan Agudelo, MIT; Air Force Cadet Jacob Bryant, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Army Cadet Nathan Caso, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Army Cadet Jacqueline Corcoran, Northeastern University; Navy Midshipman Sean Courtney, Norwich University; Air Force Cadet Brianna Croteau, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Army Cadet John Geenty, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Army Cadet Ryan Hoffman, Boston University; Navy Midshipman Zachary Litwin, Boston University; Army Cadet Jacob Remick, University of New Hampshire; Air Force Cadet Jeffrey Schafer, University of New Hampshire; Air Force Cadet Maria Trejo, Norwich University; Army Cadet Kiana Whitney, University of Vermont; Air Force Cadet Tessa Winkel, MIT. Unable to attend: Navy Midshipman Kirstin Anderson, MIT; Air Force Cadet Austin Currier, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Navy Midshipman Gabriela De Peralta, College of the Holy Cross; Army Cadet Justin Puckett, Boston University; Navy Midshipman John Ramsey, Maine Maritime Academy; Army Cadet Evan Shortsleeve, Norwich University; Air Force Cadet Michael Zaniboni, Boston University.

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