Photo By Sarah Windmueller | The Army JROTC Leadership Team from South Hills High School works to solve a puzzle...... read more read more
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School may be out for the summer, but that hasn’t stopped over 400 Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets from around the world from studying and preparing for the 2024 JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowls held June 16-24 in Washington.
“We’ve been competing all year and out of a bunch of JROTC programs, we made it to D.C. for this championship,” said Tyler Powell, a rising senior from Douglas County High School in Georgia. “We compete against other schools on leadership material and JROTC material, and we compete to be the best and show off our knowledge.”
Nearly a year of preparation to compete on the national stage culminates in these two separate competitions: The Army JROTC Leadership Bowl held June 16-19 and the All-Service JROTC Academic Bowl held June 21-24.
Only the top 40 Army JROTC Leadership Teams and the top 69 All-Service Academic Teams advance to Washington. These cadets represent the top two percent of all JROTC programs in the country and arrive prepared to showcase their intelligence and teamwork on a national stage.
“It’s the culmination of what we do in the classroom, and the essence of JROTC: It’s leadership, both academically and in the community,” said. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Richard Crossley, Director of Army Instruction at Fort Worth Independent School District for the past 24 years.
“We develop leaders at all ages, and this is a rewarding experience for our young citizen leaders to come to the capitol and compete against cadets from around the world.”
For many of the cadets, the excitement of the competition is shared with the thrill of being away from home while exploring and witnessing the history embedded in Washington.
“I don’t think I could have come to D.C. for anything else,” said Melody Woods, a rising Junior from Calumet High School in Michigan. “I get to go all the way out here, to D.C., and see all these different things.”
The event kicks off with the Army JROTC Leadership Bowl where teams of four cadets have opportunities to put their study skills and memorization to the test, while also being challenged to communicate and problem-solve as a team in outside-of-the-box scenarios.
The All-Service JROTC Academic Bowl begins a few days later and positions the top Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard JROTC programs in a Jeopardy-like setting where teams of four cadets answer a variety of questions from across a broad-range of academia.
Whether the JROTC cadets are competing at a regional Drill Competition, a Raider Challenge, or the Leadership and Academic Bowls, going into these competitions, building strong bonds is essential for the communication and success of the students.
“Being on the Raider Team, I have the physical camaraderie of my teammates, and on the Academic Team it’s pretty much the same thing except mental,” said Powell. “We train together, we study together and instead of a physical workout it’s a mental workout.”
“We’ve studied at home but coming out here to somewhere that’s not familiar to us and face a challenge that’s unfamiliar and new, it really excites me to be able to conquer a new challenge and overcome it with my team.”
The lessons and life-experiences taught in the programs establishes a foundation of confidence that develops and grows with the cadets.
“I think I’ve learned a lot of leadership skills I can use in the real world because in real life, not everything comes easy, not everything goes your way and I feel like JROTC teaches you how to go about everything the best way possible and how to be responsible,” said Gabriella Williams, a rising Junior at Douglas County High School.
“I definitely think JROTC sets me up for success. It teaches me a lot of new things and a lot of great skills that are going to be useful in the real world no matter what I do.”
JROTC is one of the largest character development and citizenship programs for youth in the world. The programs are run by retired service members, hired by the individual school districts, to teach a curriculum that offers challenging academic content and real-life experiences to help students develop a sense of personal responsibility as they move throughout the different stages of life.
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2024 18:53 |
| Story ID: | 474328 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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