NJROTC Joseph C. Gilliam Award

The Area SEVEN 2009/2010 Gilliam Scholarship winner is Cadet/LCDR Ivonne Navarro of Felix Varela High School. Enclosure is submitted to support her as the 2010 NJROTC Area SEVEN selection for the Joseph C. Gilliam Award.

Cadet Navarro is currently serving as Varela's "Viper" Company Commander. She is the third member of her family to become a member of Varela's NJROTC program and the second to serve as its commanding officer. Her parents are Hispanic immigrants with modest income who speak limited English, yet her brother Danny is a Junior at the University of Virginia and brother Giovanni is a Freshman at the University of Michigan. Cadet Navarro has applied to attend college next year at Harvard, Yale or Johns Hopkins University. Cadet Navarro's current ranking is 7 of 729 Varela seniors, with the likelihood that she will finish in the top 5. I am very proud to submit her as Area SEVEN’s Joseph C. Gilliam scholarship recipient for school year 2009/2010.