Parkway Student and Bossier Sheriff Meet to Discuss FBI Academy

A Parkway High School Senior and the sheriff who nominated him for the FBI's prestigious National Academy's Youth Leadership Program have met to discuss their experiences.

Parkway Senior Anthony Visciotti just recently graduated from the program and was nominated for that opportunity by Bossier Parish Sheriff Julian Whittington, who's a 2005 graduate of the FBI National Academy, himself.

Visciotti says he enjoyed the leadership opportunities that were offered at the academy, but his biggest thrill of the week-long experience was getting to meet 90-year-old Woody Williams.  Williams is a retired Marine and the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II.

During their meeting, Visciotti and Whittington also compared the yellow bricks that they had earned for completing the "Yellow Brick Road."  That's a physically-demanding fitness challenge consisting of a 6.1-mile run through a hilly, wooded trail built by the U.S. Marine Corps.  Along the way, participants must climb over walls, run through creeks, jump through simulated windows, scale rock faces with ropes, crawl under barbed wire in muddy water, maneuver across a cargo net, and a whole lot more.

Visciotti, who has a 4.0 grade point average at Parkway, wants to pursue a career in law enforcement and was one of only two Louisiana students to attend the training.  In all, 58 students from across the United States and four foreign countries took part in the week-long program.