The American Cadet Alliance is extremely proud to announce that the former Dayton High School is now our new National Headquarters and National Cadet Training Center. As you may have heard, we purchased the building on April 10th, 2007, the 98th anniversary of our program.

Your school will once again serve as an education center, as well as a source of community pride, as we provide leadership and self–confidence opportunities to hundreds of young people, all within a safe and challenging environment.

The American Cadet Alliance (ACA) is a non–profit nationwide youth development program dedicated to serving young men and women, ages 12–18. Founded in New York City on April 10th, 1909, ACA holds the distinction of being our country’s oldest and longest–serving nationwide Cadet Corps. For details about our program, go to www.militarycadets.org.

Contrary to any rumors you may have heard, our program is not for juvenile delinquents. In fact, we emphasize the importance of maintaining a crime–free and drug–free lifestyle. All Cadets must be full–time students and maintaining acceptable grades. Cadets attend specialized training one weekend monthly in their hometown unit. All of our Cadets attend regular school, and participate in ACA as an optional career exploration program. Cadets are under no obligation to serve in the Armed Forces; however, many have gone on to very successful military and civilian careers.

The highlight for Cadets is two–weeks of summer camp which has historically been held on a military installation. This training includes high–adventure events ranging from marksmanship to water survival, and rappelling to land navigation. Beginning next summer, our summer training will be in Dayton.

As you can imagine, it is a monumental task to refurbish the school, especially since the building sat empty – and unheated – for seven years. We have great plans for your former high school, and have every intention of maintaining the heritage of the site, while honoring the Dayton community and those who have served in the uniform of our country.

Many of the classrooms will be converted to squad–bay (barracks) style facilities. To make that happen, we must replace tens of thousands of square feet of floor tile, as well as ceiling panels damaged by having the building unheated. Further, we will install new boilers, replace hundreds of florescent lights and several dozen windows, as well as paint every wall in the building. As you can see, this is a major endeavor; however, our young people are worth it!

We look forward to providing a premier facility which our program – and our new hometown of Dayton – can be proud of. We are renovating the building using donated equipment and labor, which comes from within our program’s membership, as well as military veterans’ groups, local alumni and others. You can help maintain the traditions of Dayton High School by assisting us with this project in one of four ways:

1. Do you have memorabilia which would be appropriate to display? We will be removing the school lockers, replacing them with display cases which will commemorate the local community, those men and women from Dayton who have served in uniform, and the heritage of the school, dating back to the Union Academy and the Dayton School for Union Orphans.

2. Please consider donating your talents, or seeking the support of your employer. We are faced with every possible challenge in refurbishing the school. Electrical and plumbing issues, peeling paint and cracked floor tiles, and roofing which must be replaced. If you have skills which can assist us, or your company provides materials which we need, please contact us. For example, the beauty of the gym floor was recently restored through the dedicated efforts of Dayton alumni.

3. Your financial donation is essential to our success. As you make a donation, you will have an opportunity to order personalized bricks, blocks and other items which will be a permanent commemoration of your attachment to Dayton High School, as well as a means to support our endeavor of refurbishing the facility. We will install an Alumni Wall, once we have 100 bricks. Please consider sponsoring a brick, block, or even a classroom.

4. Join us on May 3rd for our first Dayton High School Alumni Dinner. We will host an annual dinner for alumni and friends of the school. In 2008, we will honor those classes which ended in "8" (ie., 1998, 1958, etc.), and classes which ended in "3" (ie. 1993, 1943, etc.), although all alumni are invited. We expect that this will be an annual event which will allow friends and neighbors to reconnect, while also serving as a Benefit Dinner for the refurbishment project. For details, to purchase your tickets, or to assist in the planning, please visit www.donations.militarycadets.org or call me at the number below.

The men and women who operate the American Cadet Alliance have an unwavering belief in America and her young people. With your support, we will continue to instill positive American values to young Americans. We are proud of our new home and look forward to a long and mutually rewarding relationship with the alumni of Dayton High School.

Detailed information regarding the refurbishment can be found at www.headquarters.militarycadets.org. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me personally at (866) GO-CADETS, Extension 807.

Sincerely,


JOSEPH M. LAND, SR.
Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army Cadet Corps
Chief of Staff