Fulfilling their mission to learn about top Mexico, employers and organizations, the 2022 Leadership Mexico class visited Missouri Military Academy’s campus on Tuesday, March 15. A Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce program, Leadership Mexico provides personal development and an avenue for community participation for its members.

Academy President Brigadier General Richard V. Geraci, USA (Ret), welcomed the group and shared insight into the Academy, one of the United States’ premier, college-preparatory military boarding schools, and its corps of approximately 200 middle school and high school cadets from 27 states and 9 countries. Explaining MMA’s military education model, he highlighted the five pillars of the Academy’s 360° Education —academic excellence, physical development, character development, leadership training and life skills — which are taught in an environment that emphasizes structure, discipline and accountability.

The group ate lunch with MMA cadets in the dining hall, located in Barnard Hall (the main academic building on campus) and toured the campus, which encompasses 288 acres and 316,000 square feet of building space. The tour included Barnard Hall academic building; Memorial Chapel; the command center which features 17 monitors covering approximately 250 cameras on campus for safety and security; back campus, including the Cortada Confidence Course, a Marine Corps-style obstacle course; and more. The tour also included the Academy’s athletic facilities — Centennial Gymtorium with Olympic-sized swimming pool, Alain M. Garcia Almada ‘06 Field House (which houses MMA’s JROTC headquarters, rifle range and locker rooms and allows space for indoor athletic practices), Colonels Field (soccer), the football field, stables and Calvert Baseball Field, currently undergoing renovation. Many of MMA facilities are available for rent.

“The Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce offers great value to our community, and we are glad to support the Chamber and Leadership Mexico,” said Geraci, a 2018 graduate of the Leadership Mexico program. “MMA annually contributes more than $14 million into the Mexico and regional area economy, and we will continue to pay it forward for our community’s positive economic health. A strong Mexico community helps us provide a positive living and learning environment for our cadets through the support of many local Mexico businesses, medical facilities and clinics, plus churches that welcome our cadets each Sunday.”