In the late summer of 2004 the class of 2008 recited their oaths as cadets of the Philadelphia Military Academy. During this time most of the cadets were very excited to start their high school careers. Before coming to the Academy parents and cadets were well briefed on the school and its policies. We were promised many sports teams, teachers that hold terminal degrees in their chosen profession, the chance to go to college, and that no military recruiters would come to the school to recruit.
First off, we have NO sports teams that are PMA sports teams--no football or baseball, basketball, or wrestling, like we were promised. Although we did manage to get wrestling mats, it seems like they're used for everything except wrestling.
For the most part, our teachers are well educated professionals although lately student teachers have been coming in and "teaching" some of our core subjects such as English 4 and Civics class. Is that irregular? I know at college some professors elect to have student teachers lecture some courses, but not in high school. Also, some of the teachers do not posses terminal degrees in their profession, which was promised to us. I guess that's out of the picture too.
Finally, the recruiters have been coming into the school. Many parents were concerned about their kids being coerced into joining one of the branches of the Armed Services. This major concern was remedied with the consensus that military recruiters would not be involved with our school because of its primary role as a college preparatory institution. Since then, I personally have been contacted by all of the services through information obtained by my school and the recruiters always find themselves at the College Fairs that PMA hosts.
Many students at PMA are offended by the lies that the administration has told us. If there is one thing that I have learned at PMA is that not everything it may seem.
By Paul Maiellano
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