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At Albuquerque's Bataan Military Academy, teens aren't students — they're cadets

By Susie Gran
Friday, August 10, 2007

Back to school

Meet Albuquerque Public Schools stalwarts, along with new faces and places this year.

Aug. 9: A teacher's 30-year loyalty.

Aug. 10: The new military charter school.

Aug. 11: How to feed the masses.

Aug. 13: New high school, new library.

Aug. 14: Albuquerque High's new principal.

New charter schools

To start the school year, Albuquerque Public Schools will have 36 charter schools with more than 6,000 students.

The newest are:

Albuquerque Development Talent Academy, 7521 Paseo del Volcan N.W, grades 9-12; Principals Robert Chavez and Rommie Compher, 362-8797.

Bataan Military Academy, 8001 Mountain Road Place N.E., grades 9-10; Commodore Shelby Dawson Tallchief, 292-5588.

Career Academic and Technical Academy, 6805 Academy Parkway N.W., grades 10-12; Principal Glee Hare, 345-1514.

He's all "Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir," and he'll be first in line for the regulation hair cut that lowers his ears.

"Gung-ho military" only begins to describe former Sandia High School student Adrian Mathis, a 16-year-old who voluntarily will repeat his sophomore year so he can be in the first class of cadets at the new Bataan Military Academy.

The academy could be his ticket to the U.S. Naval Academy and a career as a Marine Corps officer.

Spending an extra year in high school will be worth it to improve his chances at Annapolis, where "50,000 apply and only 1,200 are accepted," he says.

"I don't like the odds, but hopefully I'm one of those chosen."

The academy will open Aug. 13 at 8001 Mountain Road Place N.E.

It will be Albuquerque's first charter school for preparing cadets for leadership roles in the military and civilian life, said founder and Commodore Shelby Dawson Tallchief, a former administrator and chemistry teacher in Albuquerque Public Schools.

As of this week, Tallchief had signed up about 80 boys and 20 girls for the ninth and 10th grades. The maximum enrollment for the first year was projected at 225. Next year, the academy will add 11th grade.

"I see this academy as a beacon of educational hope for our community," Tallchief said. "Literally, a lighthouse."

A military career isn't on the minds of all the students signed up for Albuquerque's first military school, but without a doubt they'll get a feel for military life, regulations and discipline.

For starters, they will all look alike. They'll be called cadets, not students. They'll address the academy's leader as commodore, not principal.

They will earn rank in the Naval Junior ROTC program, and they will be members of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps. Their electives include Civil Air Patrol, marksmanship and chess.

Girls must twist long hair into buns, no nose rings allowed for either sex and no black, red or purple nail polish. These are examples of regulations discussed with the cadets and their parents at an orientation meeting earlier this month.

None of that seemed to bother Isabel Nu¤ez, a former Jimmy Carter Middle School student who was a member of the Junior ROTC at her school last year.

"I want to learn more about the military," she said, although she has no specific plans for a military career.

The ninth-grader also wasn't bothered about the low number of girls enrolled at the academy.

"It's OK if no girls join," she said. "This is for me, nobody else's benefit."

Each cadet will have a closet full of uniforms: dress whites and dress blues, working blues, dungarees and PT gear.

If they join the football team, they'll have uniforms for that, as well.

Bataan Military Academy will be the first charter school in Albuquerque to field a football team.

The first game is scheduled Sept. 8 in Estancia with the Estancia High School C-Team. Two games are scheduled with Foothill High, the school at the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center in Albuquerque.

"We're looking for teams to play," said Deana Walker, the coach's wife and parent of a player.

A cross-country team, swim team, a golf team and wrestling team will follow if there's enough interest, said the academy's athletics director, Ric Walker, an Air Force training manager at Kirtland Air Force Base.

"We've got 20 to 25 already signed up for football," said Walker, whose 15-year-old son, Rickie, is included.

Walker said he's working on a deal with Kirtland to use a field on base for practice.

"We've got a couple of big guys and a lot of fast kids, too," Rickie said.

In the academic arena, cadets represent all levels from "outstanding to average to willing to work," Tallchief said.

"The academy is absolutely something they want to do, not pressured by parents," he said. "These students have goals in mind."

Deana Walker said her son applied because he wanted "a disciplined environment with more structure and more focus on education."

Rickie Walker said he didn't find what he wanted at Highland High School during his freshman year.

But at the academy, he's finding that "a lot of teachers are actually excited about teaching. I thought it would be a cool thing to be with teachers who enjoy teaching and aren't mad at the kids."

Although he's from a military family, the younger Walker said he doesn't plan on a military career.

"I want a civilian job in architecture or computers," he said.

The faculty of the academy is a mix of civilians and retired military. Seven positions had been filled as of Aug. 9.

Those on board include two former Marines and an Army veteran. The Marines will coach track and wrestling. The Spanish and biology teachers have no military background.

Neither does Tallchief, although he and his wife and son are active members of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, a national youth organization that offers academy students opportunities for training around the world.

Retired Army Capt. Jacob Martinez will wear many hats at the academy as operations manager, business instructor, cross-country and girls' basketball coach.

He's a veteran of two tours in Vietnam and served 20 years in the Army and seven years in the Navy.

"This military academy is long overdue in Albuquerque," Martinez said.

"We're going to build character here, and our cadets will have a heart for this community.

"We are going to be raising great moms and dads for this community."