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SAN ANTONIO — Operation Homefront, serving America’s military families® since 2002, today announced the seven winners of the prestigious 2019 Military Child of the Year® Award, the nation’s premier celebration of the achievements of our military children. 2019 marks the 11th anniversary of the awards, which each year has provided the extraordinary young recipients with opportunities to be recognized by senior military leaders, elected officials, celebrities, and other remarkable military children.
The Military Child of the Year® Award reflects the positive impact that these special young people have made on their military families, their schools, and their communities. The award recipients will travel to Washington, D.C., to be recognized at the April 18th gala, during which senior leaders of each branch of service will present the awards. They also will each receive $10,000, a laptop computer, and other donated gifts. The Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation recipient will work directly with a Booz Allen Hamilton team to develop a plan to help scale the recipient’s project — drawing on technology and strategic thinking as a part of the corporation’s competitive Summer Games.
“These seven award recipients are truly exceptional young people who have achieved much at such a young age in terms of academic achievement and service to others. They are remarkable representatives of a larger community of extraordinary military kids,” said Brig. Gen. (ret.) John I. Pray Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront. “The 350 plus nominees we had for our 11th annual Military Child of the Year® Awards all personified resiliency, leadership, achievement, and strength of character. Their families and their communities can be justifiably proud of each of them – and we are too.”
Six recipients earned the award based on the armed forces branch in which a parent either serves or has served — Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the National Guard, selected for their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and other criteria while facing the challenges of military family life. Each service branch’s awardees were selected by a panel of independent volunteer judges with deep roots in the military-support community. The seventh award is the Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation, presented by global technology and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. This award goes to a military child who has designed a bold and creative solution to address a local, regional or global challenge.
The 2019 Military Child of the Year® Award recipients are as follows:
Army: Elisabeth McCallum Polleys, 16, Macomb, Michigan, L’Anse Creuse High School-North
Marine Corps: Jaxson Jordan, 13, Tarawa Terrace, North Carolina, Brewster Middle School
Navy: Elisabeth Lundgren, 18, Chula Vista, California, University of California
Air Force: Benjamin Rawald, 16, Del Rio, Texas, Brackett High School
Coast Guard: Kylie McGuire, 17, Hamilton, New Jersey, Nottingham Hamilton High School North
National Guard: Campbell Miller, 17, Ontario, Ohio, Mansfield Christian School
Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation: Brandon Mammano, 18, Mililani, Hawaii, Hanalani Schools
United Technologies Corporation is the gala’s presenting sponsor. Additional sponsors include Booz Allen Hamilton, MidAtlanticBroadband, LaQuinta Inns & Suites, and Procter & Gamble. Military Times is the media sponsor.
More information about the Military Child of the Year® Awards is available at www.militarychildoftheyear.org.
