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Twin brothers, PA Cyber students, appointed to Air Force Academy
PITTSBURGH – Expertise in an elite ancient form of combat has helped twin brothers Benjamin and Samuel Rinaldi of Coraopolis, Pa., win appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy, where they will become part an elite modern combat force.
Accomplished amateur fencers, the Rinaldi brothers will take their skills to the Air Force Academy’s top-rated Division I fencing program and hope ultimately to make the 2012 Olympics. The Olympic training center is near the USAF Academy in Colorado.
Sons of Philip and Cynthia Rinaldi, their mother said they are believed to be only the second set of identical twins to enter the Academy. She called them “mirror-image” twins, with Ben fencing right-handed and Sam a lefty.
USAF (Ret) Col. Edmund D. Effort, DDS, and Col. Robert Cahalan were hand June 7 at the Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus to officially present Academy appointments to the Rinaldi brothers at western graduation ceremonies of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School. They are among some 700 PA Cyber seniors graduating this summer. (PA Cyber eastern graduation ceremonies are Thursday evening, June 12, in Harrisburg.)
The Rinaldi family went June 8 to a luncheon at the Marriott in Cranberry Township attended by all area appointees to U.S. military service academies.
Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-14th), Sam and Ben will join 1,500 freshman cadets at the USAF Academy in Colorado this fall. The Academy selects cadets for strong academics, athletics, character, and demonstrated leadership ability. Col. Cahalan said he believes they are well-prepared for the intensity of the Academy. He said competition for Academy appointments is fierce, with 9,000 of the nation’s top high school seniors seeking admission.
The twins said they applied to the Air Force Academy because of the all-around physical and academic rigor it offers, as well as the opportunity to serve their country. Upon graduation in four years, they would be commissioned as second lieutenants and have a five-year service obligation.
“Our focus has been on fencing and school,” said Sam. Ben said the two “are always competing with each other, bouncing off each other.”
Ben said he is interested in physics and would love to become a pilot. Sam is interested in physics research or engineering.
Their mother Cynthia said though their sons have made their mark in an elite sport, they work at part-time jobs while being expected to achieve not only in their high school classes but also in the college classes they have taken at Robert Morris University and Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Their father Philip is an architect who moved his family from New York years ago to help design the Pittsburgh International Airport.
“We’re frugal, not rich, just plain old middle class,” said Mrs. Rinaldi. “My kids know if they want it, they have to work for it. They are a couple of hard-working young men.”
Sam and Ben delivered the Beaver County Times for four and a half years (5:30 to 7 a.m. daily). Ben worked as a grocery story cashier, and now buses tables at a local restaurant. Sam clerks at a music store and is a paid secretary for their church.
Cynthia Rinaldi is a stay-at-home mom who has home-schooled all four of their children: Joe, the eldest, a private pilot and air traffic controller; Katherine, a junior in PA Cyber Charter School who also fences, and twins Sam and Ben.
Mrs. Rinaldi said her son Joe, who graduated in 2005, was one of the first 50 students accepted into PA Cyber when it was founded in 2000. He tried fencing and fell in love with it.
“Joe came to it a little bit late, but Sam and Ben were 11 and took to it immediately,” said their mother. They joined the Fencing Institute of America in Westview, Pa., where 130 members from age 5 to 72 practice and compete at all levels.
At the 2007 Summer National Championships, Ben finished 18th and Sam 16th in Division IA Men’s Epee. Ben also finished seventh in Division II competition.
Like many elite athletes, the Rinaldi’s found the flexibility of cyber school allowed them to pursue a hectic schedule of athletic training and competition while they completed academics on their own time.
“This family has been with PA Cyber since our first year of operation,” said Dr. Nick Trombetta, CEO. “We celebrate the achievements of this wonderful family and congratulate Ben and Sam. They dispel the myth that a cyber school offers anything other than a first-class education.”
The self-discipline of cyber school has helped prepare Sam and Ben for the Air Force Academy, which “crams five years of work into four “ as cadets take 21 credit hours of classes a semester, said Mrs. Rinaldi. She said Sam and Ben have pushed themselves by taking difficult high school courses and college courses as well.
Michael Makowiecki is the PA Cyber instructional supervisor for Ben, Sam and sister Katherine. He said though only 21 high school credits are required to graduate, Ben has completed 29 credits and Sam has 29 and a half.
Taking college classes at Robert Morris and Franciscan such as Calculus and Analytical Geometry, Intro to Scripture, and Survey of American Law, Ben already has 42 college credits and Sam has 45. Both carry a GPA of over 3.9.
“They are a strong family unit, very involved in the Catholic Church,” said Makowiecki, who as instructional supervisor guided their studies in PA Cyber. “I went to one of their fencing matches and all three boys and their sister came over and introduced themselves to me. They explained the moves and how fencing is scored. It has been a pleasure to work with this family.”
“We are confident that Sam and Ben Rinaldi will do very well as cadets and will ultimately be effective commissioned officers in the US Air Force,” said Col. Cahalan “They are terrific young men and have prepared well for the challenges of a service academy."
PA Cyber news release Saturday, June 7, 2008