MOOSEHEART, IL – In a time-honored ceremony, Mooseheart’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) changed command on Friday, May 4.

Commanding Officer Robert Picker, a senior at Mooseheart, formally handed command to junior Andy Greenaway, who will be the Commanding Officer of the corps during the 2007-08 school year. The ceremony marked the 34th annual change of command of the Mooseheart NJROTC.

“It’s been wonderful,” Picker said. “I never thought I would get it my junior year. My goal when I got it was to improve the high school, to prepare the juniors for who the C.O. was going to be and to prepare my successor for the things he’s supposed to work on next year.”

Picker started the school year as the Executive Officer, which made him the second in command of Mooseheart’s corps. He assumed the Commanding Officer’s role in midyear.

“My words to him at the beginning of the year were that he needed to act like a C.O. and to be ready to take over at any time,” U.S. Navy Cmdr Doug Groters said. Groters serves as the lead officer for Mooseheart’s NJROTC program. “When it came time for him to take over, he stepped in and basically continued to do what he had been doing all year long. It was a seamless transition.”

Groters spoke highly of Picker’s time as C.O. of the Mooseheart corps.

“He’s very loyal,” Groters said. “He’s pretty easy to understand. He’s a straight-shooter. He says what he thinks, and that makes it easy. You don’t have to ask around to see what he’s thinking. And he gets the job done. That’s the biggest thing about him, he gets the job done.”

College figures strongly in Picker’s future plans. He will attend Waubonsee Community College and plans to transfer to Southern Illinois University. He said he gained much from his time in Mooseheart’s NJROTC program.

“The greatest honor has been to learn and to know that there are other people out there who are willing to work harder than you,” Picker said. “There are people out there who know how hard it is to wear the uniform. It is an honor and a privilege to wear it.”

Greenaway assumed command aware of the example his predecessor set.

“We’ve got shoes to fill, and that’s what I’m going to do,” Greenaway said. “He’s done a great job, a really good job.”

There has been a military component to Mooseheart education for much of the campus' history, starting with a Mooseheart Cadet Corps in 1916. The NJROTC program began in 1974. The program, which significantly enhances Mooseheart's social-studies curriculum in the areas of history, geography and civics, is mandatory for all MHS students. Use of the program as military recruitment is banned by NJROTC rules, but students who do choose a military career upon graduation begin their service two grades higher than those without NJROTC experience.

Even in the formative period of his command, Greenaway said he has ideas for things to do in the coming school year.

“We haven’t been to a drill meet since I was a freshman,” Greenaway said. “I want for us to be able to go to a drill meet and be competitive.”

Greenaway harbors dreams of a military career. He has dreams of joining the Marines, or possibly the Navy.

“We’re looking at different avenues that may be available,” Groters said. “That may involve going to college and being involved in ROTC. I know (Greenaway) wants to go to Ohio State in the worst way and they have a good ROTC program there.”

In addition to the formal change of command, the ceremony allowed time to award a number of honors to Mooseheart cadets who have been successful within the NJROTC program and others who have successfully combined academics with their military training.

“We’ve expanded it over the years so many of the deserving cadets can be recognized,” Groters said. “It’s made the program a little bit better and it gives the cadets that little bit of incentive to be professional and to be involved in our extracurricular activities.”

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org and www.Mooseheart.org or call 630-966-2229.

Outgoing Mooseheart NJROTC Commanding Officer Robert Picker (left) pins the change of rank insignia on incoming C.O. Andy Greenaway during the school's May 4 change of command ceremony.