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Wheeling Park High School Holds First Military Signing Day

By DEREK REDD 3 min read

WHEELING – In the minds of Wheeling Park High School administrators, it's just as important to celebrate students signing to join the United States military as it is to celebrate students signing to play college athletics.

The school put that thought into action Friday, holding its first Military Signing Day ceremony in the WPHS Innovative Learning Center. The ceremony honored 14 students who have enlisted or are in the process of enlisting in various military branches.

The event is the next step in promoting what WPHS Principal Meredith Dailer calls the "three E's" - education, employment and enlistment.

And when West Virginia Army National Guard Sgt. Andrea Gump came to the school as a military career counselor, Dailer said the path for Park students to enlistment blossomed.

"She is such a wonderful advocate for the military branches and has opened that conversation and the realities that the military support can give our kids both financially and just a security," Dailer said. "It’s grown so quickly here and we’ve now created this culture where the military is a real, viable option for students."

Gump served as the keynote speaker for the event. She discussed her journey into military service, attending Kent State after graduating from Wheeling Park and joining the Army National Guard there. Since then, she has traveled to five different countries and 14 different states and served an 11-month deployment in Kuwait and Iraq.

She told the 14 students honored Friday that their next few months would challenge them physically, mentally and emotionally. They'll miss their families. They might feel like quitting. Gump gave them some advice.

"You can overcome anything you set your mind to," she said. "Find the good people. Inner leadership is everything. And ... I want each of you to turn your heads for a second and look to your family members. Now smile and look back over here at me. Always remember your why."

The 14 students honored Friday either have enlisted or will enlist in three military branches. Brooke Carney and Zachary Brady have enlisted in the Air Force. Alan Rojas has enlisted in the Marines. Corbin Cutlip, Eddie Connor, DaeShawn Gordon, Gillian Connors and Naliah Lekanudos have enlisted in the Army National Guard and Kaden LaShare, Delaney Walter, Christian Bryan, Bre'Onna Milbert, Jaden Palmer and Bryanna Nally are in the process of enlisting in the National Guard.

Lekanudos said the ceremony was a great example of the way Wheeling Park High cares for all its students.

"I just feel like it’s just a reflection of Park," she said. "They’re really involved with all of our students, so it’s a really good feeling to know that you’re important to them, and it just makes the experience even better."

Bryan also credited Gump with cultivating that desire to serve one's country. Her support, he said, was a significant factor in his enlistment, and other students honored Friday concurred.

"She’s a really loving and caring person," Bryan said. And I think just having her by your side and her telling you that she’s proud of you and seeing the community and how involved they are and how much they honor you to serve your country like that, I think it’s really important and I feel honored to do it."

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