MANGILAO, Guam –
Sailors from aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) spent time with students at George Washington High School in Mangilao, Guam.
The Sailors played a variety of sports with the students as well as talking with them about having a career in the Navy.
"We're not just here to just go out there and just show our presence," said Navy Counselor 1st class (AW/SW) Michael Jimenez, USS George Washington. "We are here to show that we care about the community. We want to take care of the community in every way possible. We want to show that we're a positive light and we want to make the best of everyone that we interact with."
The Sailors enjoyed interacting with the students and had a friendly basketball competition. Lt. j.g. Cole Yoos, USS George Washington chaplain, watched the games and spoke about how there was a connection between the Sailors and the students because of the ship and the school mutually named after the first U.S. president.
"What we hope that our Sailors will take away from interacting with these kids is the understanding of how important it is to serve and give back to the local communities," said Yoos.
Max Ronquillo Jr., the school's activity coordinator, said he believes it is important that the students and Sailors interact with each other.
"I think this is very, very inspirational," he said. "GW [high school] itself is a very military community, having a lot of alumni joined the ranks of the various armed services. So this will just reinforce that and will inspire the next generation to join the military somehow and contribute to our nation."
Ronquillo also spoke about how the Sailors are role models to the students and how important it is for students to learn about making good decisions for the future.
The interaction was a positive approach to presenting opportunities in the military to interested students, said GWHS Principal Lynda Hernandez-Avilla.
"It is nice to get firsthand experience from those who are already in the military," she said.