The Coachella Valley Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America hosted its annual Leadership and Scholarship Awards dinner last month. More than 96 members, parents, cadets and staff attended this event.
La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans and La Quinta Council Members Steve Sanchez and Deborah McGarry were also in attendance.
Over the last 25 years, the CVC-MOAA has given out more than $165,000 in scholarships to Coachella Valley high school students. This year, the chapter gave out four $3,000 scholarships, which is the largest dollar amount in CVC-MOAA history.
Those recipients were the following students: The Hunter Lopez Scholarship was given to Desert Hot Springs High School USMC JROTC Cadet Major Emmanuel Villaba-Orozco, the Colonel John Samson Scholarship was awarded to Desert Hot Springs High School USMC JROTC Cadet CPT Camilla Cardenas, the CWO4 Robert Ramirez Scholarship was awarded to La Quinta High School Air Force JROTC Cadet LTC Leslie Grimaldo and the CPT John and Celeste Schleimer Scholarship went to La Quinta High School Air Force JROTC Cadet CPT Melissa Tran.
The event also saw the awarding of two leadership medals to participating high school juniors. This award recognizes an outstanding cadet in their junior year in the program who has demonstrated exceptional potential for military leadership and good academic standing.
Those students were Desert Hot Springs High School USMC JROTC 2LT Deyo James and La Quinta High School Air Force JROTC 2LT Jemma Silva-Miller.
The chapter also honored La Quinta High School Air Force COL Ethan Miller, who was selected to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy in the fall. Out of 10,000 applicants, his application was ranked No. 2.
The chapter started its own leadership award called the President’s Award, which will be awarded each year at the annual Leadership and Scholarship Awards dinner. This year it was given to Col. Mike Dulac, USAR (Ret.), for his leadership within the CVC-MOAA organization. Dulac has been a member since 2007 and served as president from 2012 to 2014.
The members are active throughout the year raising funds for the scholarships. More than $7,000 was raised last year through a silent auction and a promotion through Marvyn’s Magic Theater in La Quinta. Also, a generous donation from CPT John and Celeste Schleimer helps with the funds. In the last five years, the Schleimers have given $25,000 to the CVC-MOAA Scholarship Fund.
The Coachella Valley Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America believes in supporting tomorrow’s leaders through mentorship and sponsoring scholarships. Throughout the year at each meeting, the chapter invites a cadet to speak to the membership as well as interact with members. It’s great for the cadets, and members thoroughly enjoy having a one-on-one conversation with these future leaders.
The CVC-MOAA is a nonprofit organization that meets monthly. Members are military officers representing the nine uniformed services and can be active, retired or commissioned officers plus surviving spouses.
To learn more about the Coachella Valley Chapter of MOAA or to make a donation, visit cvc-moaa.com.
Terrie Heer is the president of the Coachella Valley chapter of MOAA. She served 23 years in the Army as a Military Police Officer and a Public Affairs Officer.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley students receive scholarships and leadership awards
Reporting by Terrie Heer, Special to The Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Terrie Heer, Special to The Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
