Here at HC, JROTC is a program that gets kids interested and prepared for the army pathway. In the past years, JROTC has been growing with more kids joining each year. This year, Lieutenant Colonel Mason A. Roberts talks about how the program plans on dealing with this increase.
“I started here in 2014 and our enrollment at that time was about 130-135 students,” Lieutenant Colonel Roberts said. “Our enrollment at the beginning of the school year was 230 and right now it stands at 218.”
With the new increased number of students, Lieutenant Colonel Roberts had to come up with a plan for the program.
“We’ve gone to the principal, Mr. Blackman, and we’ve requested a third JROTC instructor,” Lieutenant Colonel Roberts said.
As an addition, block scheduling gives students more opportunities to learn in the pathway and see if they wish to take this route in life.
“[Block scheduling] helps because it breaks up the students in the various classes,” Lieutenant Colonel Roberts said.
Even with block scheduling, the addition of another instructor could benefit the whole program.
“If we get a third instructor, I think we definitely will [get more students enrolled] because there are some recruiting duties [we will need],” Lieutenant Colonel Roberts said.
With enrollment numbers at an all-time high, JROTC continues to be one of the school’s most popular programs. The growth reflects students’ interest in leadership, service, and teamwork. As participation rises, the program’s impact on both the students and the school community show no signs of slowing down.
