13 JoCo students are headed to U.S. service academies. Here’s who they are.
There are 13 Johnson County students headed to U.S. service academies this summer.
On Friday, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids celebrated the 13 students and their families with a send-off event on Friday at Corporate Woods Founders Park.
For Vance Provost, a 2025 Olathe North alumnus, his appointment to West Point and the May 29 send-off is the culmination of three years of work.
In 2025, Provost said he was medically disqualified after applying to West Point, with the intention of following in his dad’s footsteps.
Provost said he spent the past year at Virginia Tech in the corps and cadets program, reapplied and ultimately received an appointment.
For students who are interested in service academies, Provost said his main piece of advice is that “it’s all about commitment.”
“I decided at one point, my junior year, that I wanted to go and I did everything in my power to make sure that I could go,” Provost said. “If you really just put your mind to it, you can do it. Even with setbacks that happened with me, I just kept pushing and eventually, everything worked out.”
There are 13 JoCo high schoolers headed to academies
Here is a list of all 13 Johnson County high school students headed to service academies:
Kambree Duker from Saint James Academy, who will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy
James Dykes from De Soto High, who will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy
Ryan Kwan from Blue Valley Northwest, who will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy
Neely Leathers from Olathe West, who will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy
Alex Roberts from Blue Valley Southwest, who will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy
Vance Provost from Olathe North, who will attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Malia Reeder from Blue Valley North, who will attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Jason Brendel from Blue Valley High, who will attend the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at West Point
Kaden Allen from Saint Thomas Aquinas, who will attend the U.S. Naval Academy
Archer Esh from Christ Preparatory High, who will attend the U.S. Naval Academy
Roger Li from Blue Valley West, who will attend the U.S. Naval Academy
Abraham Sund from Saint James Academy, who will attend the U.S. Naval Academy
A full list of all 17 local high schoolers attending service academies in Davids’ district can be found online here.
Davids, speakers credit families, the community
In some brief remarks, Davids said the opportunity to play a role in nominating students for the service academies “is one of the coolest parts of this job.”
Davids said the amount of hard work and dedication it took these students to receive an appointment shows that they “have the stuff to truly be a leader in this” country.
Still, she said while these students have been doing the hard work to get here, their communities and families helped them along the way.
“I cannot tell you how important it is that we have the community we have to support students so that you can be on this type of path,” Davids said. “Community support, family support, friendship, are all the things that help you get where you’re going.”
Mike Souder, a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the U.S. Army who also sat on a board recommending these students’ appointment, said students are in for a mentally, physically and emotionally challenging summer.
Souder said his top piece of advice to students “is to focus on the task right in front of” them.
“I won’t say ‘good luck’ to you because you all have what it takes,” Souder said. “We thought so and clearly the academies thought so. You are academically prepared, you’re physically prepared and we think you’re emotionally ready to go.”
Steve Wallace, a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the U.S. Army, who also sat on the board, told the crowd of students that they are headed to a service academy where the rest of their peers also performed exceptionally well in academics, athletics and community service.
Wallace said the point of this summer is to make leaders out of the students, and that it will be “absolute pressure for six weeks.”
He also told students that officers have struggled with elected leadership changing since the nation’s inception.
Wallace said his top piece of advice is to remember that their “oath is to the Constitution.”
“Your oath is not to a political party and, really, your oath is to the truth,” Wallace said.
“Go after it”
Like Provost, the students headed to the service academies are eager to get there after a lengthy application process.
For Reeder, who graduated from Blue Valley North and is headed to West Point, her service-oriented parents built the foundation for her appointment to a service academy.
Reeder said she became interested in a service academy her junior year when she received a letter from West Point. Then, she started the application process.
“It’s really taught me that if you can set your mind to something, you can most definitely do it,” Reeder said.
Breneman, a SM East grad, knew she wanted to go to a service academy after attending the graduation ceremony of her cousin — who graduated from one.
Breneman said she had a gut feeling, a calling to attend a service academy. She did some research, found a summer camp to attend and enjoyed her time there, she said.
Throughout the two-month application process, leadership opportunities at high school, 600 service hours, and several tries taking the ACT, Breneman said she had to keep reminding herself why she had to remain dedicated.
“Remind yourself what you’re doing this for when you really don’t want to study or really don’t want to do something,” Breneman said as a piece of advice for younger students who want to attend a service academy.
“There’s a reason you’re doing it, and it takes a lot to even want to go to a service academy. Remind yourself that that’s what you want — make sure that is what you want — and then go after it.”