Lester MS History
Opened: 1992
OPEN
Lester Middle School was the newest school in the DoDDS Pacific Region when it opened at the start of the 1992-93 school year. It is located at Camp Lester, formerly Camp Kuwae, midway between Kadena Air Base and Camp Foster.
The new school had six modern buildings with twenty-one general purpose classrooms, a host nation room, art room, two music rooms, six specially designed and equipped science laboratories, seven classrooms for special education, a cafetorium, media center, gymnasium, and an industrial arts building. The school also had a covered swimming pool.
By the 1993-94 school year, there were over 850 students in grades seven and eight. The principal was Thomas Wilson, and the assistant principal was Alexia Venglik. There were sixty-seven faculty and staff. School activities in the nineties included a computer and technology club, video club, Young Astronauts, and yearbook. The school had an annual bike trip to Manza. School dances celebrated the opening of school, Halloween, winter, and spring. There was an intramural program with volleyball, bowling, jump rope, and student-faculty sports events. Cultural (Gyokusendo Cave and Habu Center) and study (Botanical Gardens) trips enriched the curriculum. Charles Lockwood, principal, Ginny Briggs and Ruthie Hatcher, assistant principals, were the administrators for the 1995-96 school year. The students produced and presented a weekly news production, “Wildcat Wanderer”.
The administrators for the 2001-02 school year were principal, Diane Bell, and assistant principal, Jeff Arrington. The student body numbered 700. New activities for the students included a scuba club, National Junior Honor Society, Academic Bowl, Math Counts, and peer facilitators. In 2008, the 6th grade was added to Lester Middle School.
The school colors are purple and white. The school mascot is the wildcat.
Lester Middle School is named after Hospital Apprentice First Class Fred Faulkner Lester, US Naval Reserve, who was born on April 29, 1926, in Downers Grove, Illinois. During the Second World War, he served as a Medical Corpsman with an Assault Rifle Platoon attached to 1st Battalion, 22d Marines, 6th Marine Division, during the Okinawa Campaign. During a fierce battle on 8 June 1945 for a strategic Japanese-held hill, HA1c Lester moved beyond the front lines to aid a wounded Marine. As he crawled toward the casualty, HA1c Lester was struck by enemy fire but continued on. Despite heavy fire and painful wounds, he pulled the wounded Marine toward safety but was again struck by the incoming fire before reaching cover. Refusing to succumb to his wounds, HA1c finally managed to pull the man to safety. Too seriously wounded to administer aid, he instructed two Marines in the proper treatment of the wounded man. Then, realizing his own injuries were fatal, HA1c Lester refused medical aid and instead gathered his remaining strength to give instructions on the treatment of two more wounded Marines. For his selfless devotion to duty, HA1c Lester was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Lester Middle School proudly bears the name of this war hero who put the welfare of others before his own well-being.
Currently, the middle school has a wide variety of activities for the students including STEM Club, National Junior Honor Society, student council, yearbook, intramural sports, instrumental music, writing, and academic success clubs. Students may participate in some high school sports activities.
Dr. Will Penner became the principal and Ms. Paloma Bemis was the assistant principal for the 2023-24 school year. There were 440 students enrolled in grades six through eight.
Information from a dissertation by Harold Clifford Brown, 1981; DoDDS School Information guides; yearbooks and the school website