New London — Dougenie Alexis has lived behind the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for 20 years, but had never been inside until Saturday afternoon.

"It is beautiful," said Alexis, who was accompanied by her grandsons, ages 4 and 5, as they attended the third annual Celebrate New London event at Cadet Memorial Field.

The academy hosted New London Public Schools students and their families for the Coast Guard football game against Western New England. The New London High School Marching Band played and the NLHS cheerleaders performed alongside the U.S. Coast Guard Cheerleading Squad.

"The best part was performing at halftime and having everyone cheer for us and support us," said Liz Bowe, 16, who plays trumpet in the band.

"It was a full crowd, so I was a little nervous," fellow trumpet player Bella Szafranski, 16, said. Several Coast Guard cadets played with the students during the performance and entertained them in the stands as they yelled about football plays. The Bears lost to Western New England, 51-0.

High school cheerleader Tayah Perry-Smith, 16, said the cheerleaders picked up ideas from one another.

"We learn some of their cheers and they learn some of ours," she said.

Announcer Art Lamoureux read the names of outstanding students and teachers from New London over the public address system as the crowd cheered: Ana Santiago, an instructional assistant at the Early Childhood Center at Harbor School and instructional assistant of the year; Michelle Coombs, a teacher at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School and teacher of the year; and two students for their achievement in an English language learners bilingualism contest, high school sophomore Joao Tumbaco and kindergarten student Carlos Valle Posas.

Five New London school children served as honorary captains and "kick off kids," chosen based on their academic and social achievements.

"We went with the captains and we watched them do the coin toss," said Linda Holeman, 10, from C.B. Jennings Elementary School.

Academy Athletic Director Timothy M. Fitzpatrick said he realized quickly after arriving there several years ago that there was not a lot of outreach to the local community. He wanted to change that and believed athletics, young people and the schools provided an opportunity.

"I think it's very important for the academy in general, using athletics as kind of the tip of the spear, to reach out and embrace the community, and to really enlighten people to the fact that this is an open installation and they can come here and they can visit, and they can enjoy it," he said. "And they can realize that it's a much friendlier place than it may appear to be from the outside."

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim