New Canaan teens bound for West Point
Krolikowski, Shattan march in family members’ boot prints
Ryan Krolikowski and M. Davis Shattan have each received a presidential appointment to the Class of 2024 at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Krolikowski, the son of New Canaan Chief of Police Leon Krolikowski and Anna Krolikowski, graduated from New Canaan High School on Monday where he was a multi-sport athlete and played football on a championship team. He served his community as an Eagle Scout, volunteer firefighter, and was a cadet in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps.
Krolikowski comes from a family of service and will be the fourth generation in his family to serve in the U.S. military. His father is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. His mother, a New Canaan native, was a 28-year businesswoman who owned and operated the ice cream shop, Baskin-Robbins, and continues to volunteer in the community.
Shattan, the son of Mark and MyLinh Shattan, graduated from the King School in Stamford, on May 29. He was a multi-sport athlete and captain of two varsity teams. He was co-president of the Model U.N., (United Nations club), and received multiple recognitions in the General Assembly at the prestigious Harvard Conference.
American Legion Post 86 in Wilton sponsored Shattan at the American Legion’s Boys State program, where he was elected First Selectman and honored as Outstanding Individual.
Shattan will be the third generation in his family to serve in the U.S. armed forces. His sister, Cara Shattan, is a senior at West Point. Both parents are graduates of the U.S. Military Academy and served as Army officers. Every uncle on both sides of his family and one aunt has served in the U.S. Army and his cousin, Staff Sgt. Nicholas Shattan, just returned from his deployment to Syria.
Krolikowski and Shattan were childhood friends at West School and will reconnect paths as they head to Cadet Basic Training at West Point this July.
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a fouryear, coeducational, federal liberal arts college located 50 miles north of New York City. It was founded in 1802 as America’s first college of engineering and continues today as one of the nation’s premier leader-development institutions, consistently ranked among the top colleges in the country. Its mission remains constant — to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the U.S. Army.