WAIMEA – Maj. Victor Aguilar has been a father to 34 foster children on Kauai over the past 14 years.
There’s more.
The Major has also been a father figure to thousands of students, helping them land scholarships through the Waimea High School Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program that he has headed the last two decades.
The pride he has in his students is evident whenever he speaks about their success. The percentage rate of graduates also speaks to the power of the program — it’s 99.9 percent.
“I treat them all like I would treat my own kids,” said Aguilar, a biological father to five children.
Aguilar estimated more than 3,000 students have passed through his program. He said the secret to keeping his students in school is making sure they never get bored. Through the JROTC program, there’s a lot to keep a kid active: color guard presentations, physical competitions, academic teams, rifle teams, adventure retreats and drill teams, many of which are after-school programs.
“We are leadership for them. We’re there to set an example,” said Aguilar. “The program builds their confidence and shows them that they have choices.”
A former co-worker referred to Aguilar as “dedicated and diligent.”
It’s that sense of commitment and the results that keep siblings of many of his students enrolling.
A couple years ago, the retired major who served in the U.S. Army for 17 years, considered returning to active duty, but a parent said to him, “You can’t leave yet, I still have one more son to go.”
Aguilar recalled one lesson for 20 of his cadets. He took them out to the cornfields and put them to work, explaining they would earn $3 for each case harvested. Each case was considered complete when filled with 66 ears of corn, each 12 inches long.
“After a couple days of hard work, I told the kids, ‘This is what you will be doing day in and day out for the rest of your lives if you don’t get an education.’ It motivates them,” said Aguilar.
The major’s impact on his students extends beyond their high school years. Opportunities for college and the military are frequent. During the 2005-06 school year, eight of his cadets, with his help, were able to garner $2.2 million in scholarships.
It’s an opportunity his students appreciate.
“Being in the JROTC has given me a lot of leadership roles I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere,” said Alexys Bermudez, a Waimea High School senior who will be attending the University of Portland this fall on a full-ride scholarship from either the Army or Air Force, depending on which she chooses.
Meanwhile, her peer Charlene Alicante, also a four-year JROTC student, is taking a different career path.
“I’ve enlisted in the Army for eight years,” said Alicante. “I was shy before I got into JROTC. As a freshman, I didn’t really talk. Now I’m more friendly and comfortable around people.”
Aguilar, born in Paris, France before his family moved to Oklahoma, was shy when he was a young man.
“I was pretty quiet,” said Aguilar. “My students can’t believe that, but I was. JROTC gave me the opportunity to become more talkative. It was also a way for me to get to know other students when we moved from Paris to Oklahoma. Being a cadet gave me a common bond with the other cadets and I learned how to be a leader. I always tell my students, it worked for me, it can work for you, too.”
Being a foster kid himself while his dad served in the Vietnam War and his mother was ill in the hospital, Aguilar took to the idea of fostering children after seeing an ad in the newspaper, another ad on television and word of the need for foster parents at the family’s church.
“It was like we were being led by God to do this,” he said.
As for his high school graduates, the proof of the program’s success is in the return visits from former JROTC students.
“Now I have students coming back to see me at the school who graduated 19 years ago,” said Aguilar. “Success breeds success and parents have seen the transformation in their children.”
• This is an ongoing weekly feature in The Garden Island. It focuses on everyday people who reflect the spirit that makes Kauai the place it is today. If you know of somebody you’d like to see featured contact lcapozzi@thegardenisland.com or 245-0452.
