New London Public Schools and US Coast Guard Academy Celebrate New London

Annual event to be held November 7 at Coast Guard football game at Cadet Memorial Field.
 
New London, CT – The United States Coast Guard Academy and the City of New London will celebrate their special relationship with the annual “Celebrate New London” football game on November 7th.  The Academy will host New London public school students and their families when the Coast Guard Academy Bears take on Western New England at 1:00pm at Cadet Field.  The goal of the event is to expose the Academy to public school students to “connect New London and the Coast Guard through our students.”
 
The third annual event celebrates a relationship that has flourished for more than 100 years.   “Celebrate New London” takes on added significance this year, as 2015 marks the Coast Guard’s 225th Anniversary and New London’s recent designation as an official “Coast Guard City.”

“The Celebrate New London football game highlights and strengthens the ties between the United States Coast Guard Academy and our New London students,” said Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio.  “It’s a fun afternoon, as well as a way to show our mutual appreciation.”

As part of the “Celebrate New London” festivities, New London students will be honored throughout the game for their scholastic achievements.  The New London High School Marching Band will perform at halftime, and NLHS cheerleaders will perform side by side with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Cheerleading Squad.  Complimentary football tickets will be provided to New London Public School students and their families, thanks to advertisers in the special supplement to be published by The Day on Wednesday, November 4.   The tickets will be distributed at the schools and on game day at Cadet Memorial Field.  Free bus transportation on game day is being offered from Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School, Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School and New London High School with departures at 11:30am and 12:15pm. Two rounds of return trips will be back to each school after the game.  Parents/guardians of elementary and middle school students must accompany their children on the bus.

“Celebrate New London is always a highlight of our home football schedule. The Coast Guard Academy community embraces the relationship that we have with the city of New London,” said Rear Admiral James E. Rendon, Coast Guard Academy Superintendent. “The Celebrate New London event allows the students of New London and their families an opportunity to come to campus and see all the great things going on here, see some of their friends honored for hard work in the classroom and enjoy a college football game.”

New London Public Schools have received statewide attention and garnered national recognition for its many initiatives that are fundamentally transforming the district. The City has embarked on a multi-tier plan to make New London Public Schools the best education destination in the region.  With emphasis on excellence, responsibility, safety and academic rigor, the school administration and faculty, in partnership with parents and other stakeholders, have cultivated an innovative and personalized teaching model from pre K through high school.  Students are thriving in New London’s growing regional magnet school system.

“As New London Public Schools continues its transformation into a regional system of high-performing schools, businesses, community organizations and institutions of higher learning from across the state are becoming more and more interested in the ways they can work in our schools,” said New London Superintendent of Schools Dr. Manuel J. Rivera. “ Celebrate New London, in only its third year, continues to be the highest example of what these kinds of partnerships can do to not only elevate community involvement in our schools, but to demonstrate how an extremely effective joint partnership can benefit all students as well.”

For more information about Celebrate New London visit www.newlondon.org.

About the United States Coast Guard Academy
The US Coast Guard Academy, one of the nation’s five federal service academies, is located on the west bank of the Thames River. Each year, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduates nearly 200 newly commissioned ensigns to the lead the smallest of all the military services. U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review and Forbes Magazine have recognized the U.S. Coast Guard Academy as one of the top institutions of higher learning. U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks the academy among the top 20 Undergraduate Engineering Programs in the nation.

About New London, Connecticut
Founded in 1646, New London boasts a glorious waterfront, rich cultural scene, fascinating historical sites and fabulous recreational facilities including the Nathan Hale School House, Hempsted Houses, Shaw-Perkins Mansion, U.S. Custom House & Museum, Fort Trumbull State Park and Ocean Beach Park. After more than 350 years of history, this waterfront community continues to thrive with an eclectic mix of unique boutique shops, restaurants, and cultural attractions, along with a relaxing maritime atmosphere surrounded by historic streets lined with 18th and 19th century buildings such as the New London Superior Courthouse (1784), Union Railroad Station (1888) and New London Public Library (1890). In addition, the city boasts two of New England’s most storied lighthouses, New London Harbor Lighthouse (1760) and New London Ledge Lighthouse (1909).  The City is also the future home of the National Coast Guard Museum.