Winners are chosen for their excellence in scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, and extracurricular activities. The seven recipients represent the armed forces branch in which a parent either serves or has served — Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Space Force.
Louis Geer, 18, a senior at BASIS San Antonio’s Shavano Campus, has a laundry list of accomplishments. He’s an Eagle scout, classical musician and composer, founder of his school’s Entrepreneurship Club, varsity soccer player and member of several scholastic teams. He also participated in several research programs, including the Summer Science Program in Astrophysics and a program with NASA.
“To be honest, when I was very young, my parents did push me a little bit,” Geer said in an interview with TPR. “I'm grateful for that because I grew up to respect that academic mindset a little more.”
Geer moved six times while his dad, a civil engineer, served in the Air Force. He says he had to learn to be self-directed in order to stay on track academically and socially.
“I think a lot of people don't really think about — in terms of the military lifestyle — how it affects your education. When I was moving around as a little kid, I noticed small inconsistencies with my school. But now that I’ve grown up, I kind of see those inconsistencies in a different light.”
Geer also founded the San Antonio Book Pool, which collects and distributes thousands of books annually to students in need. The idea came to him after his sister graduated from high school.
“We had a bunch of test prep books lying around,” he explained. “Bunch of AP test prep books lying around. They were just kind of being used as paperweights or monitor stands around my home. I realized that these were expensive books, and that other people could be using them.”
His next step is college, and he’s still figuring out what he’d like to do for a career. But he says volunteering taught him a lot about himself.
“It's shown me that I really do like helping my community and other people. So I want to merge that with my interest in technology, to sort of use technology to help the community in the long term and my future career,” Geer said.
As Military Child of the Year for the Air Force, Geer will receive a $10,000 grant, a laptop computer and other donated gifts. An awards gala to honor the 2023 recipients will be held on April 13 in Arlington, Virginia.
The other awardees are:
- Army: Mackenzie Hanna, 17, Grafton, MA
- Coast Guard: Haydn Jones, 17, Sault Sainte Marie, MI
- Marine Corps: Hannah Marie Tokiwa, 17, Pearl City, HI
- National Guard: Jackson Griggs, 18, Rainbow City, AL
- Navy: Jemma Bates, 18, Annapolis, MD
- Space Force: Hayley Schreiner, 16, Colorado Springs, CO
