Janel Tracy, a 2015 graduate of Palmerton, has been officially appointed into the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

She attended the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at West Point and graduated from there this year.She will be a graduate of the Class of 2020.Tracy was heavily involved with her school and community. She was accepted into theWest Point Prep school in 2015. She received anomination from U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright in 2015 and 2016.While at the preparatory school, she was the respect mentor, among other duties of a candidate cadet. She graduated in May 2016 from the prep school.Attending West Point Prep did not automatically ensure her acceptance into West Point. She had to reapply through an extensive process.On June 27,she reported toWest Point for Reception Day to begin six weeks of basic training.Tracy is the daughter of Jamie and Jonice Tracy. She is the granddaughter of Robert and Denise Koons of Palmerton, Dennis and Loretta Tracy of Lehighton, Cynthia Kromer of Bethlehem and the late Edward Kromer Jr."We are very proud of her," Jonice Tracy said of her daughter. "She is truly one of a kind. She is a genuinely caring person who loves to serve for our freedoms."On Monday, West Point 2020 Cadets completed their basic training and marched back to West Point from Camp Buckner while parents, family and friends lined the street to welcome them back and celebrate their milestone.The acceptance rate at West Point is 9.5 percent and neither the guidance counselor of Palmerton Area High School nor a school board member could recall any female Palmerton graduates who have been accepted into the academy.Tracy's mentors include Don Delich of Palmerton and Bonnie Tavella, a teacher at Palmerton. Retired Lt. Gen. Rhett Hernandez has also been very supportive of her. He is a graduate of both Palmerton and West Point.While in high school, Tracy was involved in activities such as the school newspaper, the "Avenger," of which she was the editor-in-chief, art club, environmental club, Future Business Leaders of America as a reporter for two years, National Honor Society, student council, student forum and yearbook. She was vice president of her class for two years, vice president of student council all four years and treasurer of National Honor Society. She also played basketball and softball, both for which she had terms of captain.She also earned several awards in these activities including the Leo of the Year award in Leo Club, fourth place in state for web design in FBLA and TV-13 Female Athlete of the Week for softball in 2013 and Lehighton Indian Basketball Classic Champions from 2012-2014.Tracy graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.7 and was ranked 21 out of 150 in her class.For community service Tracy did things such as blood drives, volunteered at the Special Olympics, tutored at the library and helped with freshman orientation.