St. John's Northwestern Military Academy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St. John's Northwestern Military Academy, originally St. John's Military Academy, was founded in Delafield, Wisconsin in 1884 by Dr. Sidney T. Smythe, who saw the need for a preparatory school to prepare boys for college and life. In 1996 St. John's Military Academy merged with Northwestern Military and Naval Acadmey, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to become St. John's Northwestern Military Academy. The academy is located in Delafield, Wisconsin and within the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee.

The school was depicted in Apollo 13 as the school where Jim Lovell's son attended, though school itself was not shown on film.

[edit] Cadet life

Cadets are awoken at 6:00 AM every weekday morning, have their rooms inspected to exacting standards, and report to the first formation of the day. During this first formation, the cadets are divided according to their assigned company and platoon. During the formation, they stand at attention, as the colors are raised. Afterwards, they march into the mess hall, where they eat a meal prepared by employees of the academy. Meals are provided by food service company. After breakfast, the cadets report to their first five 40 minute classes. Classes vary in size, but usually average 12 students to a class. All classes are all located within the same building, except for band and JROTC, a leadership education training course. After morning classes, the students form up for the lunch formation.

During the lunch formation, the students stand at attention, much like the breakfast formation. Unlike breakfast formation, though, the cadets march in to the mess hall amidst a drumline cadence. During the march, each company is judged and the company that marches the best is announced at the lunch. After lunch, the cadets have two more classes. After the afternoon classes, all cadets participate in different sports. The sports range from traditional high school sports such as football and wrestling, to more abstract sports like rifle marksmanship. Once sports are over, the cadets report to a third formation, where the colors are lowered. After their final meal of the day, the cadets report to their barracks for study hours, which are monitored to make sure all cadets are on task and working efficiently. Taps is at 10:00 PM when all cadets go to sleep, to prepare for another day.

On the weekends, most cadets are allowed to have almost free roam of the campus. All are allowed to sleep in until 10:00 AM and can use the extensive facilities, such as the 9 hole golf course. Other recreational events that occur on the weekends include: Paintball, going to the movies, trips to best buy and the mall, and use of Mouso hall, the rec center. Going off campus is restricted to cadets of certain rank. However, most will be able to participate in this during the year. First year cadets don't usually get the privledges of "Old Boys", the second year cadets.

[edit] Some notable graduates

St. John's 1916 - Daniel Gerber was the founder and president of Gerber Baby Foods in Michigan.

St. John's 1917 - General Edward Craig was the Commander of the U.S. Marine Corps at the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

St. John's 1922 - George Kennan was Ambassador to Russia and Yugoslavia. He helped develop the Marshall Plan for reconstruction of Europe after World War II.

St. John's 1933 - George Wilson had an eleven-year career as a professional football player with the Chicago Bears. He is a member of the N.F.L. Hall of Fame as a championship coach with the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins.

Northwestern 1934 - Carl Thomsen is the retired C.E.O. of Texas Instruments.

St. John's 1946 - Daniel Rostenkowski was a star athlete at the Academy who was an Illinois Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Northwestern 1948 - C. Roosevelt Boettiner was the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945). He was a distinguished statesman who served as a delegate representing the United States to the United Nations.

St. John's 1962 - Ty Warner is the founder and C.E.O. of Beanie Babies, Inc. in Illinois.

Northwestern 1966 - Albert Graf is the former owner of Guidant Corp., the largest heart monitor manufacturer in the world.

St. John's 1974 - Jay Lovell is the owner of Lovell's of Lake Forest, the premier fine dining establishment on the North Shore of Chicago in Lake Forest, IL. Jay has appeared on numerous television shows and magazines. He is also the son of Apollo 13 commander Captain James A. Lovell an honorary graduate and academy friend.

St. John's 1981 - Martin Torrijos is the President of Panama.