Garrett Heaps Midshipman earns Gold Star Gold Star received Midshipman Garrett Heaps of Spring City has received a Gold Star at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., for academic achievement during the third term last spring. He is the son of William and Alesia Heaps. Gold Stars are awarded to students who achieve a grade point average of 3.5 or better during an academic semester. An “academic star” is equivalent to being named to the Dean’s List. Midshipman Heaps is a graduate of North Sanpete High School and was nominated to the Academy by Senator Robert F. Bennett. The Academy, founded in 1943, trains young men and women from across the nation to be merchant marine and Navel Reserve officers, and awards them a bachelor of science degree. Midshipmen spend one year of the Academy’s four-year program training at sea aboard U.S. commercial vessels. The academy is a federal institution operated by the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.