From ‘fl unking’ to leading cadets

from Northwest Observer / Dec. 2 - 15, 2021

In memory of Trey Bellows

Youth Sync

Oak Ridge teen goes from ‘fl unking’ to leading cadets

After struggling at Northwest Guilford High School, Brandon Augsburger emerges as Oak Ridge Military Academy’s highestranking cadet

by CHRIS BURRITT

OAK RIDGE – Shortly after enrolling in Oak Ridge Military Academy (ORMA) in February 2020, Brandon Augsburger joined the drill team. When he mishandled his rifle, the barrel caught him above his right eye, leaving a cut and a jarring reality.

Augsburger was no longer coasting along at Northwest Guilford High School (NWHS). By his own description, he had been hanging out with a bad crowd, skipping classes and ignoring his grades. After entering ORMA, he embraced the rules of the military school, which is rebuilding enrollment by recruiting students seeking discipline and camaraderie sometimes absent from public schools.

Less than a year and a half after enrolling, Augsburger, a senior, rose to the position of battalion commander – ORMA’s highest-ranking cadet – and also serves as commander of the drill team.

“He stepped up as soon as he got here,” said Sallie McCullough, the school’s senior Army instructor. As the first sergeant supervising the drill team, first sergeant supervising the drill team, she’s watched Augsburger progress in handling his rifle and leading fellow cadets. “He’s made a 360-degree turn.”

ORMA’s marketing is aimed at families such as the Augsburgers.

“Are you satisfied with your child’s education?” reads a billboard on West Market Street in Greensboro. It touts the school’s offerings – academic assessment, leadership development, college preparation and on-campus, in-person instruction with small class sizes, a selling point during the temporary shutdown of public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Brandon was flunking at NWHS,” said his mother, Kim. She required her son to visit ORMA after her efforts to persuade Guilford County Schools to allow him to repeat the 11th grade failed.

“I knew he needed a year to grow up,” she said.

The academy allowed Augsburger to finish the second half of what had been his junior year at NWHS as a sophomore.

“The turnaround in him was immediate and remarkable,” his mother said. “The fact he is now the battalion commander shocks me to no end.”

As the top-ranked cadet, Augsburger, 18, is responsible for the whereabouts of the school’s approximately 100 cadets. He helps resolve discipline and other problems. Lower-ranking cadet leaders

Photo courtesy of ORMA Battalion Commander Brandon Augsburger leads a parade of Oak Ridge Military Academy cadets in September.

report to Augsburger, who reports to McCullough and Sgt. Major Terrence Lewis, commandant of cadets.

A month after Augsburger began attending ORMA as a day student, the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to decide whether to continue commuting to the school or move onto campus. He chose to live and study on campus with other cadets.

If he had decided to study remotely from home, Augusburger said he knew he’d “find a way to cheat out” of doing his school work. Instead, living and studying with fellow cadets created camaraderie he hadn’t found at NWHS, which he described as “way too big” for him. The cadets “are all your friends,” he said. “They are there for you.” Smaller class sizes have helped Augsburger improve his grades to As and Bs from Ds and Fs at NWHS. “I realized I could change, and I took advantage of the opportunity,” he said. Augsburger also participated in optional leadership training that tested his physical stamina. That includes hikes of eight and 12 miles, with cadets carrying rucksacks loaded with bricks weighing as much as 40 pounds.

He said he embraces the academy’s military training, down to details such as ironing creases in his pant legs.

The military regimen “makes you feel different about things, more professional,” he said. “Looking really sharp and marching with a straight back, you get compliments. It makes you feel good.’’

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Annual Public Meeting

Sunday, Dec 12th, 7:30pm Oak Ridge Town Hall

NEWS in brief ...continued from p. 3

Preview: Dec. 2 Oak Ridge Town Council meeting

by CHRIS BURRITT

OAK RIDGE – Oak Ridge Town Council plans to elect a mayor and mayor pro tem during its meeting this Thursday, Dec. 2, following the town’s general election last month.

Mayor Ann Schneider and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Kinneman were reelected Nov. 2. After the two are sworn into office, council members will decide among themselves whether to reelect Schneider and Kinneman or other members to lead the council over the next two years.

In other business, the council will consider approving the town’s usage agreement with the Oak Ridge Youth Association (ORYA). The association is the largest user of the fields at Town Park. The town will provide ORYA $30,000 of in-kind support, such as the usage of fields and application of field paint, according to a draft of the agreement. The subsidy will be split in half, with $15,000 available Jan. 1 for the spring season and $15,000 available July 1 for fall sports.

The council also plans to consider reappointing Nancy Stoudemire to the Planning and Zoning Board and the Board of Adjustment. It will also consider two appointments to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: Mike Kimel as a full member and Chelsea Young as an alternate.

The council will consider approving the 2022 meeting and holiday schedule for Oak Ridge and hear reports from town

want to participate?

The 7 p.m. meeting at Town Hall this Thursday, Dec. 2, is open to the public and can also be viewed live on the town’s YouTube channel. For more information or an agenda, visit www.oakridgenc.com.

Town seeks Planning Board applicants for two-year term

STOKESDALE – The Town of Stokesdale is accepting applications from Town residents interested in an appointment to the Stokesdale Planning Board. The appointee will serve a two-year term that begins in January 2022.

Applications are available online at www.stokesdale.org under the Government/Forms tab, or at Stokesdale Town Hall, 8325 Angel Pardue Road in Stokesdale. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Deadline for submission is Dec. 17 at 4:30 p.m.

For additional information regarding the vacancy or responsibilities of Planning Board members, contact Dale Martin, town clerk, at (336) 643-4011.

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