SMSH grad will attend West Point

Recent St. Martinville Sr. High School graduate Helen Escagne is going to West Point.
Every year, thousands of high school graduates apply for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point, but only a small fraction receive a coveted appointment.
Escagne told the Teche News she decided long ago to go into the military, and she joined the JROTC program offered at the parish College and Career Readiness Center. But she had not decided which branch she preferred. As she negotiated the year-long process of applying to West point, Escagne had also hedged her bets by applying to Norwitch University Military College in Vermont.
She had already received her acceptance to Norwitch, but when she got the news about her West Point admittance her choice was clear. She would join the respected cohort of West Point-trained Army officers. It is an honor that will forever place her in an elite group that has produced some of the great leaders of this country, including two US presidents and 76 Medal of Honor recipients.
With limited financial resources at her disposal, the full-ride scholarship that comes with West Point acceptance is a real godsend, Escagne said. At this time, she hopes to go into the intelligence branch or possibly the Judge Advocate General Corps.
Helen’s mother, Darlene, says she is thrilled that Helen’s years of planning and hard work have paid off. Darlene traces the beginning of her daughter’s success to her involvement with the Upward Bound program at SMSH. As part of that program, she learned about the importance of networking. She came into contact with people who would provide the references that would prove vitally important when she decided to apply to West Point.
Helen worked with both a City Court judge and at the District Attorney’s office. “She got a lot more serious about her grades at that time,” Darlene told the Teche News. “Whatever Helen wanted to do, we would have supported her wholeheartedly,” she added, “but we are ecstatic about this.”
Located along the Hudson River in rural Orange County, New York, the college was established in 1802 by a directive from President Thomas Jefferson. Only about 1,300 cadets, some of the best and brightest high school graduates from all over the country, are admitted each year.