Iraq war hero and other vets join school's end-of-year picnic

Chester — The BUGs were back at the Chester Academy middle school. This time, school officials didn’t mess around. They called for military reinforcements. More than 24 military veterans from the famous Rolling Thunder motorcycle club and two other national veterans organizations came to the school on June 17 to participate in a special end-of-the-year Bringing UP Grades (BUG) Program. At the invitation of middle school principal Ernest Jackson, representatives from the New York Chapter of Rolling Thunder, the Wounded Warrior Project, and Troops to Teachers joined members of the Chester Kiwanis, VFW Post 4662, and the Middle School PTA BUG award program and picnic. The motivational guest speaker was Iraqi war hero First Lieutenant Ryan Miller of Staten Island. A 2005 graduate of West Point Military Academy and a Stuyvesant High School 2001 Football Player of the Year, Miller was critically wounded while participating in a routine patrol mission in Baghdad. His vehicle was struck by three armor-piercing explosive devices known as IEDs. The explosions and their resulting shrapnel killed one soldier and seriously wounded nine others, including Miller. After suffering devastating injuries in the attack, he has undergone treatment at four different hospitals and is now receiving extensive post-operative physical therapy at West Point Military Academy. “Ryan is a true American hero and great role model for our students,” Jackson said. “Given the personal obstacles that Ryan has had to overcome, he is someone we can all look up to — to learn about personal commitment, inner strength, and determination.” New this year to Chester middle school, the BUG program recognizes students who raise their grades by more than 10 points and a teacher recommendation in a marking period. Sponsored by the Chester Kiwanis, the program brings the school and community together to celebrate student achievement. At the end of each marking period, a guest speaker and members the Chester Kiwanis and school PTA are invited to participate in the motivational assembly programs. Previous BUG guest speakers were Oakland Athletics (now Yankees) pitcher Rob Semerano and News 12-Hudson Valley reporter Kelley Jelinski. BUG’s honored achievers Sixth grade: Chan, Louisa Chucka, Alexis Curtis, Samantha Elter, Christopher Fox, Emil Gorga, Peter Horan, Kaitlin James, Rugnetta Krawczyk, Lindsey Laspina, Philip LeDoux, Justin Louisa, Chan Luciano, Ashley McVeigh, Nicholas Morales, Edwin Pena, Alex Perez, Andrew Perry, Matthew Roane, Rasheda Rugnetta, James Sansalone, Michael Sutter, Tyler Volkmer, Michael Walsh, Ryan Wittekind, Chris Young, Lawrence Seventh grade: Atkin, Tom Bogle, Olivia Coffey, Matt Gilmore, Lindsy Giovanni, Alfonso Mardelle, Jean Terrace, Chris Thomas, Nick Eighth grade: Abdamohoodi, Aneece Bailey, Tory Bamond, Krista Bowens, Tyrell Corter, Blaze Elter, Stephanie Fuentes, Maya Furman, Ryan Harvey, Malique Jaylin, Savigne Laura, AJ Negron, Kevin Nikki, Battiato Quirke, Kelly Rosado, Brandon