WASHINGTON, DC – With the nomination application deadline approaching, Congressman Bill Delahunt will sponsor an informational forum for local high school students and their families interested in educational opportunities at US Service Academies.

The two-hour Delahunt forum is scheduled for 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 20 at the Martinson Elementary School at 257 Forest Street in Marshfield.  It is open, free-of-charge, to all southeastern Massachusetts residents. Registration begins at 6:30 pm.

The session will feature admissions representatives from the US Military Academy (West Point, NY), Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD), and Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO) -- as well as the Coast Guard Academy (New London, CT), Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, NY), Norwich University (Northfield, VT), and Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.  Also participating will be officials of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship program.

Also in attendance will be Second Lieutenant Timothy Barr of West Yarmouth, who graduated from West Point this spring and is stationed at the Academy as well as Cadet Reed Hayes of Hingham, who is currently a Senior at West Point majoring in Arabic. This will allow the parents and prospective students of our service academies to interact with and gain valuable insight into the process of applying and the rigors of academy life.

Forum participants will outline procedures for pursuing a congressional nomination to the Academies.  Tenth Congressional District residents who graduate from high school by June 2008 are eligible to apply for the academic year 2008-2009.  The application deadline for next year’s potential nominees is November 1, 2007.

All applications are evaluated thoroughly over a period of several months by the Tenth Congressional District Academy Nominee Selection Committee, a panel of distinguished local residents.  The names of the students recommended by the committee will be forwarded by Congressman Delahunt to the respective Academies, where they compete for final admission and appointment.

For additional information on the September 20 forum, or about the nomination process, please call Delahunt’s office, toll-free, at 1-800-794-9911.  In addition, application forms are available online through his congressional website at http://www.house.gov/delahunt/academy.shtml.

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