Schools

RHS NJROTC Cadet Wins $180,000 Scholarship

Cadet Lieutenant Jr. Grade Brian Weinhardt became the second Riverhead cadet to win the prestigious scholarship.

Six days after Riverhead High School NJROTC Cadet Lieutenant Amanda Gallo was one of six cadets to be awarded a $180,000 Navy scholarship to the college of her choice, a second high school senior cadet has been announced as a winner of the award.

Cadet Lieutenant Jr. Grade Brian Weinhardt, the Operations Officer for the RHS unit, will receive a $180,000 scholarship to the college of his choice, according to a statement from the Riverhead school district on Tuesday.

Weinhardt coordinates all the events and trips that the cadets participate in throughout the year, is a member of the National Honor Society, the French Foreign Language Honor Society, the Outdoors Club and the Varsity Golf Team. Weinhardt is an and an honor roll student with a 97.39 grade point average, the school said. He will also become an Eagle Scout soon.

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“I finished my project, the paperwork has been submitted, and I’m just waiting for the process to be completed,” Weinhardt said. “My Eagle Scout project was refurbishing the exterior of the Baiting Hollow Library."

Weinhardt's commander, Lt. Col. Peter McCarthy praised the cadet as a "committed" and "hardworking" member of the unit's Academic, Armed and Unarmed Drill Teams.

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Weinhardt said he will enter the Navy after graduating from college as an ensign. His first choice of colleges is the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, or George Washington University, according to the district. He plans to major in aerospace engineering and then law. He ultimately wants to become a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, the legal branch of the Navy.

“I knew as a freshman that this is what I wanted to do,” Weinhardt said. “I’m very excited that it’s all going to happen as I hoped it would.”


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