WCHS Student Accepted into US Air Force Academy
by Catherine Jenkinson
May 11, 2010
Early this spring, Wallace County High School student Taylor Pearce was invited to enroll into the United States Air Force Academy. The road to being accepted into the Air Force Academy is not an easy one, and Pearce exhibited his hard work ethic, discipline, intelligence, and focus on his path to the prestigious military academy. General requirements to be accepted to the USAFA are at least a 3.5 grade point average, an incredibly high ACT or SAT score, participation in varsity sports and various activities, a tremendous amount of community service, and nomination from a state senator or congressman. A nominee also must be able to complete a timed 1.5 mile run, pull ups, standing long jumps, sit-ups, push-ups, and a 600 meter run, all within fifteen minutes. If an Air Force Academy gets into any kind of legal trouble, they are removed from consideration for admission. Taylor Pearce received not only one, but three nominations to the Academy from Congressman Jerry Moran and Senators Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback. Pearce had to be selected by a nominating committee for review by these legislators. The number of interviews with each legislator's committee ranged in number depending on the number of people on each committee. Still, less than one nominee in fifty actually gets accepted into the USAFA. The last student from Wallace County High School to attend a US military academy was Jim Swanson who went to Westpoint in 1970. Acceptance into the USAFA is certainly formidable and congratulations to Taylor Pearce!
