by Acacia Burnham

Patricia Schipp celebrated her 18th birthday in a Navy boot camp in Orlando, Fla. Schipp, a naval science instructor for Santa Fe High School’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, ties her own sense of patriotism to her 22 years of military service.

“I’m just appreciative of my country,” she said. “I love where I live, and in spite of all our problems, we seem to be able to come together when the chips are down. … The American flag blowing in the breeze still moves me every time I see it. … I bleed red, white and blue.”