Photo By Jackson Huston | Lt. Col. Matthew Pride, Professor of Military Science at The City University of New...... read more read more
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Since Army JROTC’s inception, students have elected to sign up out of curiosity or to find a place of belonging in the chaotic atmosphere of high school. For Dr. Leah Pride, it was the uniform. The steely blue shirt, braided cords, the shined shoes… to her all of it commanded respect. For her younger brother, Lt. Col. Matthew Pride, it was watching his sister wear that same uniform and practice drill routines that gave him, not only a spark of competition, but one of admiration.
Leah Pride joined the Raider Battalion at Port Richmond High School on New York’s Staten Island in 1994. Like many freshmen starting the journey of high school, she built her course schedule around her friends. While initially the uniform pulled her in, once she became a student in JROTC the program took on a new meaning for her.
“There was a different level of respect when we had uniforms on, we carried ourselves differently, the discipline and making sure that your shoes are shined,” said Dr. Pride. “Having that understanding, that responsibility comes along with how you present yourself. Those are some of the earlier influences of JROTC that really stuck with me.”
Over the next four years, Leah saw personal growth in the program, including becoming the Battalion Executive Officer, a high-level leadership position, which did not go unnoticed by her brother. In the fall of 1997, Leah was a senior and Matthew was just starting high school as a freshman. Matthew saw the developmental benefits of joining JROTC compounded with the opportunity for some family competition.
“It was incredible to watch her grow in her confidence, to watch her grow in her abilities and in her competencies, to see her in a really strong peer group which encouraged each other to do amazing things,” said Lt. Col. Pride.
Inspiration to serve spread through their immediate family. All six siblings in the Pride family would go on to participate in JROTC at Port Richmond High School, with Matthew holding the position of Battalion Commander, the top leadership position in the program, by the time he was a senior.
JROTC is a citizenship program that provides a variety of avenues to service for its cadets. Many assume, due to the incorporation of Army lessons and instructors that JROTC is molding candidates for the military. However, Army JROTC instructors have a mission to educate cadets on how to maximize opportunities based on their strengths. For Matthew, a path to the armed forces came from the motivation his instructors gave him.
“No question, hands down, my relationship with the Senior Army Instructor and the Army Instructors in the [Raider Battalion] put service in my heart and put the possibility of being an officer in front of me by their example,” he said.
All Army JROTC instructors are prior service members. Pride’s instructors saw his appetite for service and encouraged him to apply to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
“West Point, for me it just seemed like such a far reach, it seemed simply beyond my ability to aspire,” Lt. Col. Pride said. “I did it simply because I was encouraged to, not because I felt like I would get in. Amazingly, I was admitted to West Point. It was a shock to me, it was a shock to my family, but it wasn’t a shock to those who inspired me. They just said, ‘I knew. I knew you had it in you.’”
Pride, now the Professor of Military Science at The City University of New York’s Army ROTC program, acknowledges the opportunity that military service gave him. In his position as an instructor, he can lead by example and show his ROTC cadets that, while service is done for the benefit of others, military service can change someone’s position in life.
“What JROTC instilled in me was a tenacity to keep digging, to keep pushing, to keep after my goals,” he said.
“Military service can break the cycle of poverty. It brings financial benefits, it brings medical benefits, it brings resources that sometimes students struggle to have privately. I think change in station, change in social mobility, and a change of perspective, they were given to me by the mentors and Army Instructors that helped to inspire me to pursue that. Since they were given to me, I want to be able to show my cadets at the senior program in CUNY that all of that is not only possible but if they’re on this path then it will be certain.”
For JROTC students, the Army is not the only path to service. Dr. Leah Pride is now the Assistant Principal for Science at Port Richmond High School – the same school the Pride family attended. After graduating in 1998, Pride became the first in her family to attend college. Initially pursuing a career in biochemistry, Pride changed directions when she hit a rut.
“I had to pivot,” she said. “I think having the foundations of leadership and being faced with challenges and not giving up, thinking about what other solutions are… I think a lot of that came from the foundations of JROTC.”
This adjustment brought Dr. Pride closer to fulfilling her enthusiasm for service. She went back to school and completed a doctoral degree in education. The change in course gave her the opportunity to serve the same neighborhood that raised her.
“It means everything because I could have gone anywhere. I’ve been very blessed and very fortunate in my experiences. I already had a position, but I left that position to come here because I wanted to pour back into the community that poured into me,” said Dr. Pride. “This community has potential, and I would love to be able to be a part of that growth helping to transform young lives into whatever lies before them. That’s what was given to us as students.”
With her office now just down the hall from her former JROTC classroom, the impact of JROTC on its students is clear for Dr. Pride.
“I think sometimes being in an urban school system, there are these stigmas around difference,” she said. “Like certain kids can’t do it, won’t want to do it, or they don’t want to be challenged, but we find that many of our students want that. If you ask them, what is it about the program for many of them, it’s the discipline. The face of JROTC is different. There’s no one type of leader.”
While the siblings followed two different paths, they both attribute their success to their family’s dynasty at the Port Richmond JROTC program.
“There are students sitting in their seats right now that just look out and wonder what they have to give,” said Lt. Col. Pride. I want to tell them, ‘The world.’ You have so much to give. I sat where you sat, and I thought that there was not much before me. It just took others to really help me see my whole potential.”
Now, nearly 30 years removed from the JROTC program, the Pride siblings may not wear the same uniform, but their motivation to serve transcends the blue shirts and shined shoes.
Army JROTC has more than 1,700 programs nationwide, and the New York City-Metro Area is home to nearly 20 of those programs. For more information on Army JROTC, visit https://www.usarmyjrotc.com/army-junior-rotc-program-overview/
| Date Taken: | 02.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.04.2025 15:17 |
| Story ID: | 490088 |
| Location: | STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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