McKinley Tech Alum, a 2014 Naval Academy Grad, Featured Speaker at Norton’s Service Academy College Fair and Sendoff

WASHINGTON, DC – This evening, Tuesday, June 10, 2014, from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., at Dunbar High School (101 N St. NW), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will hold her annual Service Academy College Fair to recruit for next year's service academy classes and to present her 2014 nominees to the service academies. The fair is an opportunity for prospective students in grades 6-11 and their parents to speak with service academy representatives and alumni as well as the D.C. students on their way to the academies. The academies provide a first-rate education and a stipend for students.

Anthony Bertram Clay, Jr., a D.C. high school alum who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, will be the featured speaker. Ensign Clay will speak about his experience transitioning from a D.C. high school to a rigorous military academy. Clay graduated from McKinley Technology High School in 2009, the Naval Academy Prep School in 2010, and the U.S. Naval Academy in 2014, and will leave for the U.S.S. Mesa Verde on June 23. Service Academy representatives from the U.S. Military, U.S. Naval, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Merchant Marine, and U.S. Air Force academies will be on hand to speak individually to current high school and middle school students and parents and to explain how to apply for a nomination, how to prepare to be a candidate, and the advantages of being an academy graduate and life at an academy.

This year's four appointees include three young men and one young woman – Anderson Allen Simmons (U.S. Military Academy/Maret School), Connor Ogden McNerney (U.S. Naval Academy/Collège de Candolle), Eleanor Isabelle Franc (U.S. Coast Guard Academy/St. John's College High School), and Michael Joseph Barry (U.S. Air Force Academy/Gonzaga College High School). In addition, one D.C. student will attend a service academy foundation program – Maria Manuela Bayón Farrell (U.S. Naval Academy Foundation Program/Wilson High School) – and three will attend service academy prep schools – Malcolm Jahlane Dixon (U.S. Naval Academy Prep School/Phelps ACE High School), Patrick Christopher Irby-Baily (U.S. Military Academy Prep School/Gonzaga College High School) and Stefano Javier Escoto (U.S. Naval Academy Prep School/St. John's College High School).

"Nominating young men and women of the District to our service academies is one of the great honors I am given as a member of Congress," said Norton. "We couple their sendoff with college recruiting to let D.C. students see their peers who are living proof that they can do it too. D.C. students and parents interested in an all-expenses paid college education, plus a living allowance, should take a look at the service academies and take advantage of the many experts and resources available tonight."

Every year the Congresswoman makes nominations for the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and U.S. Air Force Academy, who compete for appointments to which they have been nominated. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy uses a direct appointment system.

Published: June 10, 2014