Photo By William John Reese | Col. Julie Balten, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District,...... read more read more
LOS ANGELES – Cadets from the U.S. Academy at West Point were joined by leaders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District to share Leadership, Ethics and Diversity in STEM with JROTC cadets from four high schools Feb. 17 in Los Angeles.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, is sometimes referred to as STEAM, with an “A” included for the arts. The West Point LEADS program is a workshop for JROTC students to learn about opportunities, leadership skills, leadership qualities, ethics and honor. The event was hosted by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
LA District commander Col. Julie Balten was the LEADS opening and closing speaker at Monroe and Los Angeles high schools, respectively.
JROTC cadets in attendance also came from Garfield and Washington Prep high schools. Altogether, the assembled JROTC cadet companies joined in battalion formation at Monroe High School before the event shifted to Los Angeles High School.
“I’ve been active duty for 27 years, but one day I was sitting in your shoes, and you all have a whole life ahead of you,” Balten said. “I’m excited for you, and, if I could, I’d go back and do it all over again.”
Balten described her upbringing in a small Michigan farming town of 450 with one school for the entire county and 150 students of all grades.
“I was lucky enough to dream big … our parents really expected us to go to college, but they said, ‘you’re going to have to pay for it.’ So that’s a heavy lift, but dream big,” she said.
After attending prep school, Balten was accepted at West Point to become a civil engineer.
“I’m so thankful I’m an engineer officer in the Army,” she said. “The Army gave me the opportunity to lead at every level. That’s one of the greatest things about the Army.”
Cadets, students and faculty also heard from and seemed especially impressed with retired Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Littrell, Medal of Honor recipient, taking turns shaking his hand and thanking him for his service.
Littrell talked about the six core values of the Medal of Honor. He described his experience April 4-8, 1970, when, as a sergeant first class, with a handful of American advisors, he withstood an intense siege alongside a battalion of South Vietnamese troops. These days, he visits schools across the country to encourage students to keep learning.
“Never stop learning. You don’t have to take a class to learn something new every day,” Littrell said, adding he is currently studying financial planning.
Littrell is one of 64 living Medal of Honor recipients. He was one of 63 living recipients that morning and said he received a text telling him another recipient had just been named.
JROTC cadets then broke off into groups, led by West Point cadets. The topics of most interest were ethics and paying for college.
Project manager Capt. Cristina Palomino facilitated LEADS at Monroe High School, while Capt. Derek Schwartz, a West Point graduate deputy and resident engineer with the Fort Irwin Resident Office did the same at LA High School.
At LA High School, Mario Guerra, civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army, told his story about coming to America as an immigrant and rising to the civilian equivalent of a lieutenant general.
Balten came full circle to end the LEADS day with closing comments.
“Just take the next step in whatever that is, and don’t be afraid to fail,” she said. “Personal courage is one of those huge foundations of leadership, and having that personal courage to take that first step … get excited about whatever that is, no matter what the outcome.”
NATIONAL ENGINEERS WEEK
The West Point LEADS event led into National Engineers Week, which was Feb. 19-25. National Engineers Week was founded in 1951 and is led by the National Society of Professional Engineers. It is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supports National Engineers Week and is one of the largest employers of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math disciplines in the federal government.
| Date Taken: | 02.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2023 13:41 |
| Story ID: | 439116 |
| Location: | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 122 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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West Point cadets
Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District
LEADS Program
