Fishburne Military School welcomes large cadet class

The number of the day at today’s First Formation ceremony at Fishburne Military School: 181. That’s how many cadets are enrolled for the start of the 2013-2014 academic year at the Waynesboro military school, the most that have been on campus for the start of a school year in more than a decade.

“Our senior class has more than 60 cadets alone. There’s a lot more seniors in my classes. I’ve noticed that,” said Harold McCoo, a senior from Haymarket who was installed on Wednesday at the Battalion Commander of the FMS Corps of Cadets.

The swelling enrollment is “one of the most significant signs of the school’s health that we could hope for,” said Col. Gary Morrison, the superintendent at Fishburne.

“This is a period of so much difficulty for private schools and military schools throughout the country,” said Morrison, FMS ’81. “We have struggled for years to get our enrollment up to a point where we know that basically we start off the year at or close to the point where you need to be to cover the expenses for the year. We haven’t done that forever.”

Morrison told the corps at the First Formation ceremony that it is poised for a banner year.

“Not only do you make up the largest corps in over a decade, you are also one of the most academically and athletically gifted groups in many, many years,” Morrison said. “Commit to make your mark, to leave your legacy, to set the performance bar so high that all cadet corps that follow will struggle to meet your standards. Gentlemen, this year, become legendary.”

McCoo advised fellow cadets to “take every moment here as if it were your last.”

“Soak it in, because one day soon, brothers, we’ll be looking back at our yearbooks saying, I remember him, I remember when mattresses were in the Quad, I remember when I was a squad leader, I remember when the BC yelled at me, I remember when I made the game-winning shot. Understand that day will be here in a blink of an eye,” McCoo said.

More online at www.Fishburne.org.