Missouri Military Academy

125th Anniversary crest

The Missouri Military Academy is an all-boy college preparatory military school in the United States. The Academy is mainly a boarding school but also offers a day program, a summer school and a summer leadership camp. As a JROTC Honor Unit With Distinction (as designated by the Department of the Army), MMA has the privilege of nominating cadets to the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Coast Guard Academy. The athletic teams are known as "The Colonels."

The Academy prepares young men for leadership and is known for its 360 Degree Education, which provides a well-rounded, holistic education that is centered on academic excellence, character development, physical health and the enhancement of leadership skills. Students who come to MMA are not attending for the purpose of reform, but typically desire to fulfill their potential academically while learning leadership skills. Most graduates do not enlist in the military after graduation, and many pursue college via an ROTC or Senior Military College program.

The Academy is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization governed by a Board of Trustees. The current Chairman of the Board is R. Stribling Koster of Chicago, Ill. Missouri Military Academy sponsors several annual traditional events, including the fall Homecoming celebration, Fall Family Weekend, the Valentine Ball with special guest Miss Missouri, a Festival of the Arts and Commencement weekend, which draw families and alumni from around the world.

Missouri Military Academy also holds its annual Maroon and Gold event in St. Louis every spring. At the 2014 event, the Academy recognized its 125th anniversary by introducing a new award, The General Clifton B. Cates "I Will Hold" Award for Leadership. The award is named after MMA alumnus and 19th Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Clifton B. Cates. The first recipient was Gary Pinkel, head football coach of the University of Missouri Tigers.

Education

Missouri Military Academy accepts young men in grades 6-12, with the availability of a post-grad year, from around the world based upon their good character and their ability to achieve in the Academy academic program. MMA's academic program instills in cadets the necessary skills for success in college and life. The Academy offers 9 Advanced Placement courses and several dual-credit courses.

In the summer there is a co-ed non-military summer school program, The MMA Summer Academy, a one-week Confidence Camp for boys ages 8–11 and a two-week Leadership Camp for boys ages 12–17.military-style leadership camp

MMA boasts 100 percent college acceptance among its graduates every year. The graduating classes, which average 45-50 students per year, typically earn between $1.5 and $3 million in college scholarships annually. The class of 2013 earned more than $2 million in scholarships. Graduates are accepted to many distinguished colleges and universities, including the U.S. Air Force Academy, the United States Military Academy at West Point, Purdue University, UC Berkeley, SUNY, The Citadel, VMI, University of Michigan, Washington University in St. Louis, Westminster College of Missouri, St. Louis University.[1]

Teardrop Lake

Facilities

MMA has two technology centers; air-conditioned barracks; a Gymtorium with a weight room, basketball court, and performing arts center; a field house with indoor running track, rifle range, 2 tennis courts and 4 basketball courts, and a Natatorium which houses a 25-meter indoor swimming pool with a diving tank. The outdoor recreational/sports areas include tennis courts, a riding stable, a 43-foot (13 m) rappelling tower, Colonels Football Field, soccer fields, an all-weather track, the Brad Calvert Baseball Field; and a back campus wilderness area with a lake, lakefront lodge and stream. MMA's barracks are Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo. There is no longer an Alpha barracks, since it was demolished in 2008 to make way for a new academic building, Barnard Hall.

The academic building, Barnard Hall, which opened in 2009, was the first LEED-certified high school in Missouri, achieving Gold status. The hall was named for alumnus Les Barnard '48 of Chicago, Ill., whose generous gift kicked off the campaign to build the 39,000 sq ft structure.

In 2010, the Academy announced plans to rebuild its historic administration building, known as Stribling Hall. Foundation and other issues prevented the restoration of the building, so in March 2011 crews tore down the existing structure to make way for a new admin building. The school reconstructed Stribling Hall in the likeness of the former building and dedicated it in May 2012. The new building features a gold dome, one of few such landmarks in Missouri.[2]

Stribling Hall today

History

The Academy was founded in November 1889 when the citizens of Mexico, Missouri donated funds and 20 acres (81,000 m2) of land for the purpose of establishing a military school. The task of building MMA fell to Col. A.F. Fleet, a US Civil War veteran, who erected the campus' first buildings southwest of the city. When fire destroyed the school's original site in the fall of 1896, Col. Fleet removed the cadets to Culver Military Academy (now the Culver Academies).

In 1900, the Businessmen's Association of Mexico and Col. A.K. Yancey of the Alabama Military Institute rebuilt MMA. The City of Mexico assisted the project with a contribution of $10,000, which was used to purchase the grounds on which the modern Academy is located. On Sept. 20 of that year, the doors of the Academy opened once more.

Upon Col. Yancey's death in 1901, his business partner, Col. William D. Fonville, assumed the office of school superintendent and oversaw the construction of additional barracks. After his retirement in 1911, Col. Fonville was succeeded by Col. W.R. Kohr and, three years later in 1914, by Col. E.Y. Burton.

In 1933, Col. C.R. Stribling, Jr., a 13-year member of the MMA faculty, assumed command of the school. Under Col. Stribling, the Academy solidified its position as one of the nation's leading prep schools. In 1948, the Academy was reorganized as a not-for-profit educational organization, controlled by a Board of Trustees.

In 1968, Col. Stribling's son, Col. Charles R. Stribling, III, member of the MMA Class of 1944 and MMA faculty member since 1952, followed his father and served as the President of the school for 25 years. The elder Col. Stribling remained on campus as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees until his death in 1983. In 1981, the school's administration building was renamed Stribling Hall to honor his lasting contribution to MMA.

MMA celebrated its Centennial in 1989, four years after being named one of the nation's Exemplary Private Schools by the US Department of Education.

Col. Charles R. Stribling, III, served as President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees concurrently for 10 years after his father's death until Col. Ronald J. Kelly, veteran MMA teacher, coach, company advisor, admissions director, executive officer and superintendent, was elected as the eighth President of the Academy in August 1993.

On July 1, 2007, Maj. Gen. Robert M. Flanagan, U.S. Marine Corps (retired), became the ninth president of Missouri Military Academy. Gen. Flanagan came to MMA following a 33-year career in the U.S. Marine Corps and two years at Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Fla., as commandant and deputy headmaster. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Troy University, and is a graduate of the National War College. He was commander of three Marine air bases on the East Coast, and of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade., MajGen Flanagan retired on June 30, 2012.

Mr. Charles A. "Tony" McGeorge became the tenth president on July 2, 2012. He is an alumnus of the former Peekskill Military Academy in Peeksill, New York. His academic background includes a B.A. in Sino-Soviet History from Boston University and an M.S. in the Dynamics of Organizations from the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a certificate in Advanced Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business.

Mr. McGeorge began his business career at Johnson & Johnson, where he helped found two operating companies: McNeil Consumer Products Company (Tylenol) and Johnson & Johnson Health Management, Inc. He taught adjunctively at St. Joseph’s University and Eastern University’s Graduate School of Business. He served as president of Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania from 2004-2010. He is also a former president of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States (AMCSUS), and served on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools. Immediately prior to his appointment as MMA president, he was the principal of McGeorge & Company LLC, which provides consulting services to independent schools and colleges.

In 2014, the Academy celebrated its 125th anniversary during a weekend celebration on campus in Mexico, Missouri. Retired Senator and former Missouri Governor Christopher S. Bond was the guest of honor at the event.

Notable MMA Alumni and Associates

References

  1. ↑ MMA Office of College Placement
  2. ↑ File:Stribling Hall MMA.jpg

External links

(History adapted, with permission, from Missouri Military Academy)

Coordinates: 39°10′20″N 91°51′59″W / 39.172126°N 91.866313°W