All students who are participating in No Shave November: Judging will be held tomorrow, during the lunch periods.  You must be cleanly shaven this Friday, November 14th.

Tickets for the Helias Catholic Theatre Guild Fall play Clue are on sale.  Tickets are $5 for students and can be purchased in the finance office.

Tomorrow a representative for the US Naval Sea Cadets, a congressionally chartered youth program for students age 10-18, will be in the commons during lunch shifts.  For more information on this program, see below or the counseling office.

The Helias Spring Musical, Freaky Friday, will be holding auditions Sunday November 23rd starting at 11:00 am.  If you did not attend the workshops, you can still audition.  There are music tracks, sheet music, and dance videos available on the Spring Musical website under Student Life.  If you have any questions or want to know more about auditions, please see Amy Pringer in the finance office.  

• The Sea Cadets is a Congressionally chartered youth program for students age 10-18.  It is military-oriented, and receives some funding grant support from the Navy and Coast Guard.   It is open to students age 10-18.  Prospective 10-13-year-old youth (4th grade graduates) will enter the junior component, the Naval League Cadets.  Students age 14-17 (8th grade graduates) will join the senior program, the Naval Sea Cadets, or transition from the League Cadets to the Sea Cadets.   

• Our local unit, the Thomas Jefferson Division, drills one weekend each month at the National Guard Headquarters (Ike Skelton Training Site).  Congressionally-chartered in 1958, the program has approximately 360 units across the country.  With 67 years behind them, their mission is to ‘Develop Leaders of Character’; and they are successful!   

• This program exposes Cadets to the rigors and discipline of the military, all while having a lot of fun and experiencing the unique teamwork and camaraderie such an environment fosters.  During drill weekends, Cadets learn Navy and military customs, traditions, and courtesies, along with new skills taught and practiced each month.  Drill weekends are a combination of hands-on skill training, facilitated classroom discussions, and military and civilian guest speakers.

• During summer and winter school breaks, Cadets have the opportunity to attend 10-day training camps, starting with Recruit Orientation (a modified boot camp) followed by advanced trainings in many military-and-civilian-based disciplines. These events offer immersions into many specialties: Military Police, Culinary, Navy SEAL, Vehicle Maintenance, Photojournalism, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, STEM: Robotics & Drones, Basic & Advanced Scuba, Aviation, Medical, Field Operations, Personal Security Detail, Honor Guard, and many more!  In a 12-month period, there have been as many as 450 training events coast-to-coast, on military bases, National Guard training sites, sailing vessels, Coast Guard cutters, and even in Boy Scout camps. 

• Cadets learn life skills, strong values, and positive character traits for a strong, successful launch into adulthood, regardless of career path: academic, trades, military, or the private sector. These include discipline, respect, teamwork, a strong work ethic, resilience, adaptability, responsibility, punctuality, accountability, patriotism, commitment, service, etc. I have personally been a volunteer mentor and trainer for 13 years, and can attest that this unique program is transformational for those willing to apply themselves.