COEUR d'ALENE — Three Lake City High School seniors are about to follow in the footsteps of heroes as they embark on military journeys.

Valedictorian Jesse Taylor received a congressional appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. The four-year education is worth more than $400,000. Taylor received his official invitation and has accepted this prestigious appointment into West Point’s next incoming class.

This is the first time since 2001 that a Lake City grad earned a West Point appointment.

"I am super excited and grateful to have the opportunity to attend West Point, an academy with deep roots in military and American history," Taylor said Tuesday.

He said one of the many reasons he decided to pursue a career as an officer was his interest in military history, as well as feeling called to serve his country and the people he loves.

"I also feel that the discipline and structure of military life is something that would suit me well, and West Point is the best place for academic, physical and character development," Taylor said. "It took a lot of discipline and endurance to receive the appointment, but the application itself led to a lot of character development and personal growth, which makes me look forward to becoming a better person and leader in future experiences."

National Honor Society member and varsity soccer player Acaja Scott enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and will receive the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. This prestigious honor covers the full four years of tuition. Scott will be an officer when she graduates from Embry Riddle and wants to be a fighter pilot.

"I feel very thankful for this scholarship. It has opened up so many options that were previously off limits for me," Scott said. "I'm very excited to start my journey and work hard. I look forward to the challenges ahead."

Her mom, Dianna Scott, said she is incredibly proud of her daughter.

"I’m over the moon because she’s taking strides in a place no one in my family has done," she said. "I don’t have any military background. Her great-grandfather was an Army military guy, but no one else in our family. She is definitely carving a path of her very own."

Zachary Turner has been named a midshipman candidate for the U.S. Navy. He will study mechanical engineering at the University of Idaho.

"It’s a degree that will give me my best shot at getting a pilot slot," Turner said.

He will participate in military training through the Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC. His first year of college will be paid for. Once that is completed, he will be eligible for further scholarship opportunities.

"My grandfather was a pilot in the Marine Corps for 20-plus years," Turner said. "I always grew up hearing his stories around aviation. That’s my main passion and has been for the past few years."

The soon-to-be graduates' principal, Deanne Clifford, said it's amazing these young people are making such huge commitments in their lives.

"All three of them are high quality, high character students who are absolutely committed to selfless devotion to their country," she said. "They are exactly the people we want in our military defending us."

She said she is incredibly proud of these students and will say so in her commencement day speech. She applauded all of the Class of 2024 for overcoming so much adversity in their high school years. This year's seniors started their freshman year when the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging.

"This is a very selfless class," Clifford said. "They went through a lot of loss and turmoil throughout their high school years."

And yet they powered through, despite the challenges.

“This is a big deal to us," Clifford said.

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