JROTC Cooking Up Something Spicy
October 2, 2009 by Jasmine Kabera
JROTC Instructors take initiative to rebuild old program.
Artwork by Mia Nogueira
JROTC’s two new instructors, Master Sergeant Brian Wyatt and Chief Warrant Officer Charles Gaines, are using new methods this year to teach young students to become respectable cadets, leaders, and better citizens. The year ahead may be difficult for the optimistic duo, but they say they are looking forward to the challenge.
Gaines, a TJ alumni and first-time JROTC instructor, applied to Montebello, TJ and Lincoln High Schools. He didn’t expect to get a job in his old school, but was pleasantly surprised when he did. “I really didn’t request a school, but I was lucky to get TJ,” Gaines said.
With current JROTC enrollment at about 125 students, Wyatt and Gaines hope the program will rise to well over 150 cadets by the 2012 school year. “We want to launch TJ to the top and start winning trophies again,” said Gaines.
With six years as a JROTC instructor under his belt, Wyatt says that he is already excited for the upcoming school year, and for a chance to get the program up and running again. “What we have planned for this school year is to actually sell the program to the kids, to let them realize that what we’re all about is to teach leadership,” Wyatt said.
The first hurdle the instructors had to jump over was recruitment. Since JROTC is a student run program, the instructors count on upperclassmen and other cadets to spread the word. There are even recruiting ribbons for cadets who get two or more students to join the program. “We want the teachers and the counselors to realize that this program is not about the military. We care about the kids and we care about their grades,” Wyatt said. In order to increase enrollment, the instructors also changed the uniform policy. Freshmen or LET 1 (leadership education and training) along with newcomers to the program now only have to wear their uniforms for a class period. “Normally you would have to wear a uniform and the jacket as a LET 1, 2, 3, and 4 last year,” said Wyatt. “This year, we’re letting them just wear the shirt and the pants. When they become a LET 2, 3 and 4 and start getting awards and everything, and more bragging rights, then they’ll take pride in their uniforms and they’ll wear it. It’s kind of a right of passage when they get the jacket.”
Since volunteering and fundraising is an integral part of the program, the instructors are rounding up fresh ideas from the cadet staff. One of the main fundraising ideas the staff and instructors are trying to get off the ground this year is the first annual JROTC chili cook-off held here at TJ. Using the spirit of competition, the instructors will let competitors set up one of the two JROTC class rooms as their own personal space. The plan is to ask a chef or manager from restaurants such as Olive Garden, Chili’s, or Red Lobster to be judges. Among the competitors will be TJ teachers, faculty and parents. Getting involved in the cook-off only requires a registration fee of $5 and the creation of a tasty pot of chili. Competitors will sign up beginning on the first of October. The cook-off will take place on Friday October 23rd.
The proceeds will go to providing new uniforms for all the JROTC competitive teams such as Rifle Team, Honor Platoon, Drill Team, and Color Guard. It will also provide for meals and transportation when the teams travel to compete against other DPS schools at drill meets around the city.
“They can give the chili a theme name. We’ll have smock aprons to wear that they can put glitter on and make their own names. We are going to put it [chili] on the tables for the judges to judge with numbers on the pots. Then they’re going to choose the top three,” Wyatt explained. Even though students aren’t allowed to participate this year, they are allowed to taste the chili and put their own ballots in. Student voting will count as a separate part of the competition, provided with its own separate trophy prize.
The cadet staff is also expanding its volunteering by helping at the craft fair that takes place at TJ every November, Christmas tree sale where they transport heavy Christmas trees to awaiting cars and trucks, and to also include new volunteering ideas such as helping out in a soup kitchen, gathering items for a food drive, and even making visits to nursing homes. The battalion as a whole has a goal to receive a Gold Star for the yearly Brigade Staff Inspection that happens in early March.
“I would like to be able to earn the Gold Star and depart TJ JROTC with pride, so that I can pass on the torch of knowledge and leave the senior staff member’s legacy to the lower LET levels,” said Senior Benjamin Lee, Executive Officer and the Second in Command on the cadet staff.
“We think young people want discipline and structure in their life,” Gaines said. “We provide it for them by enforcing better discipline and a stronger work ethic. We’ve also noticed a change in behavior – the kids care a lot more enthusiastic and actually want to be involved.” At the moment all JROTC cadets are perfecting their marching and drilling for their first outing at the Veteran’s Day Parade in November to show their respect for our countries veterans.
(Reproduced with permission of Matt Spampinato, Thomas Jefferson Journal)
