By Michael LaRocca
MIDDLETOWN – From the classroom to the soccer field, Middletown High School South students spent all day Friday learning about the opportunities and responsibilities of the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the school’s first Aviation Showcase, part of Fleet Week NYC.
The event, which ran from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m., included plenty of time for students to interact with service members in the classroom. There they had the chance to ask questions about each service member’s career and the highs and lows that come with it.
Units in attendance came from as close as Tinton Falls and as far away as Millington, Tennessee, and Norfolk, Virginia.
“I think a big misconception is when you join the Navy, you’re going to go on a ship and that’s all you’re going to do,” said Lt. Kathleen Barrios. “The experiences, the things that you get to learn, the schooling that’s provided, the travel. (There are) so many benefits to being in the military.”
Some students got the chance to learn directly from the service members, as the Newport, Rhode Island-based Navy Band Northeast served as guest instructors for the Middletown South band before their marquee performance later in the day.
“It was wonderful to get to work with them,” South band teacher Michael Raguseo said. “Getting additional feedback, especially from such great musicians, is an opportunity we didn’t want to miss,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s hearing things from a different perspective or said a different way” that can make an educational impact.
However, the indoor activities seemed only to serve as an appetizer for the Aviation Showcase’s main event. By around 9:30 a.m., hundreds of students made their way to the school’s soccer field to watch a fleet of Sikorsky MH-60 Seahawk helicopters land on their campus just a few hundred yards away.
The big surprise for the student body was learning that their principal, Thomas Olausen, was inside one of the helicopters.
“I understand that he has not thrown up just yet,” Rear Adm. Wesley McCall, commander of Navy Regional Mid-Atlantic, joked during his opening remarks. “I can’t wait to see his face when he gets off the helicopter.”
Olausen did keep his breakfast down, likely to the delight of the airmen sitting beside him.
“It was fantastic up there. I’ve never been in a helicopter before,” he said. “When I got up there, they were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to take you out over the Hudson and it’ll be a really cool flight pattern.’ And it really was.”
It was fair to say that the students enjoyed the stunt.
“That was pretty funny,” senior Aaron Colelli said. “I was not expecting them to say that he was in the helicopter.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this,” he said, marveling at the aircraft.
Olausen said the idea for the event developed after a conversation with a Navy recruiter last fall.
“It’s all about the kids,” Olausen said. “The students are so excited. And when else would they ever get to experience something like this? These are the things students remember for the rest of their lives.”
Once the helicopters came to rest, students and staff alike were given free rein of the fleet, getting the chance to look inside the aircraft and take pictures. Students also tested their strength at several recruitment stations lined up along the field, doing pull-ups with the Marines and some weighted pushups with the Navy while being serenaded by the Navy band playing hits like “Cupid” by FIFTY FIFTY and “Finesse” by Bruno Mars.
Aviation Showcase helped the school make the military more visible to its student body and celebrate what it provides for the nation.
Middletown Mayor Tony Perry attended the event and said he appreciated what it accomplished, including helping students understand the importance of the military. He called it a great recruitment tool.
While colleges and trade schools are good choices for many, Perry said, “The military is always a great route for a lot of students.” While other events like this happened on Long Island and in North Jersey, the students understood how special the festivities were. “I think it’s cool that they picked our school,” freshman Juliana Howard said. All that matters to Olausen now is doing what he can to bring Fleet Week back to Middletown again next year.
“I hope we put on a good show for them so they’ll come back.”
The article originally appeared in the May 30 – June 5, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
