Press Release

MAG MIDSHIPMEN TRAVEL TO SOUTH DAKOTA FOR VOLUNTEER TRIP

NOTE TO EDITORS AND REPORTERS: Naval Academy Midshipmen involved with this project will be available for interviews by request. Photo and video opportunities are also available. Please call the USNA Public Affairs Office at 410-293-2292. They will put you in contact with the Senior Midshipman leader.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The members of the Midshipmen Action Group (MAG) will participate in numerous local volunteer and community service programs throughout the upcoming spring semester. During the previous academic year, they logged 20,000 hours participating in community service projects, and in this semester alone will participate in numerous local projects as well as multiple projects elsewhere throughout the country during spring break.

During the upcoming spring break, March 9-18, a group of midshipmen will travel to Pine Ridge, S.D. as a part of the MAG’s spring break volunteer effort. Pine Ridge is one of the nation’s poorest counties and young students there tend to lack the exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects that their counterparts may have.

The MAG group, led by Midshipman 2nd Class Dustin Longhenry of Navarre, Fla., will spend ten days on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation working with different after-school programs. The midshipmen will be using “STEM in a box” projects to help expose school children to science, engineering and mathematics in everyday life; the “STEM in a box” is a creation of USNA mechanical engineering Professor Angela Moran who designed it to help emphasize learning STEM though simple experiments and activities. The midshipmen’s main goal in working with children is to generate a genuine interest in STEM through exposure and hands-on experience.

Also during their time in Pine Ridge, the midshipmen will make a visit to a local veteran’s home. The Pine Ridge veteran’s home was home to the United States last living code-talker who passed in 2010.

Established in 1992 as a community relations program for and by the Brigade of Midshipmen, MAG currently offers a variety of educational, environmental and social service volunteer projects in coordination with community partners from the Annapolis, Baltimore and Washington D.C. areas, as well as regional and national partners. MAG prepares midshipmen for future service by encouraging peer leadership, teamwork, character development, morale, selflessness and goodwill towards others.

Founded in 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy is a prestigious four-year service academy that prepares midshipmen morally, mentally and physically to be professional officers in the naval service. More than 4,400 men and women representing every state in the U.S. and several foreign countries make up the student body, known as the Brigade of Midshipmen. Midshipmen learn from military and civilian instructors and participate in intercollegiate varsity sports and extracurricular activities. They also study subjects like small arms, drill, seamanship and navigation, tactics, naval engineering and weapons, leadership, ethics and military law. Upon graduation, midshipmen earn a federally funded Bachelor of Science degree in a choice of 23 different subject majors and go on to serve at least five years of exciting and rewarding service as commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps.

For more information about the Naval Academy, please visit www.usna.edu or our Facebook page. For more information about MAG, visit www.usna.edu/MAG.

USNA