The JROTC Program
Purpose: The JROTC program is designed to teach high school students the value of citizenship, leadership, service to the community, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment, while instilling in them self-esteem, teamwork, and self-discipline. Its focus is reflected in its mission statement, "TO MOTIVATE YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE BETTER CITIZENS ." It prepares high school students for responsible leadership roles while making them aware of their rights, responsibilities, and privileges as American citizens. The program is a stimulus for promoting graduation from high school, and it provides instruction and rewarding opportunities that will benefit the student, community, and nation.
The ARMY JROTC Program of Instruction focuses on the development of better citizens through the instruction of skills in leadership, citizenship, life success, geography, and wellness, in a structured interactive environment.
The JROTC program is a cooperative effort on the part of the Army and the host institution to provide secondary school students with opportunities for total development. The Flexibility of the program allows it to bear the scrutiny of professional educators and to meet the needs of the community. Satisfactory completion of the program can lead to advanced placement credit in the Senior ROTC program or advanced rank in the Armed Forces. Some of the course has been reviewed and college credit is awarded to cadets upon completion of the specified requirement.
The JROTC program is one of the Army's contributions to assisting America's youth to become better citizens. The Program produces successful students and productive adults, while fostering in each school a more constructive and disciplined learning environment. This program makes substantial contributions to the community and ultimately to the nation's future. It is the centerpiece of the Department of Defense's commitment to America's Promise for youth through its emphasis on community service and teen anti-drug efforts.
The JROTC Program Intends to teach cadets to:
JROTC is not your average high school course. It can't all fit in a textbook. It won't be studied by any other students or in any other schools. It hasn't been taught before. it won't be taught again. because the subject or JROTC is YOU. JROTC is all about you. You are its whole point. It's devoted to your growth, both as a student and as a person.
JROTC prepares you for life. NOT for the military. There is no obligation to the military what so ever. Junior ROTC is a high school course given during regular school hours but includes many out-of-classroom activities. We cover basics in history, government, technology awareness, and current events. But we also teach leadership skills (like how to motivate others) and personal skills (how to study, take test, interview for jobs). And we offer extracurricular activities like drill team and color guard. You might even have a chance to go to a JROTC summer camp where you'll train on confidence courses, play team sports, and learn land navigation and water safety techniques. Our interest is simply to give you an opportunity to develop and improve yourself in ways schools generally don't offer. We aren't promoting the military lifestyle. But we do use military skill to teach self-discipline, confidence and pride in a job well done.
JROTC helps our students develop a combination of skills, knowledge and inner strengths. So we don't teach the way other courses do.
In fact, much of our teaching isn't teaching at all. It's training. We train you for leadership by having you lead. We train you to be physically confident by running you through a difficult obstacle course. We train you in teamwork by having you solve problems as a member of a group. We train you to take pride in your physical appearance by showing you how to wear a uniform properly. We train you to teach by asking you to put together a lesson plan and assist in teaching a class. But behind this idea there's another idea. All the ways we train you add up to this: we train you to succeed. We train you to be good at the things you need to be good at in school and life.
JROTC builds confidence and character. JROTC training isn't easy - nothing worthwhile is - but the effort you put into mastering leadership techniques and developing personal skills pays off in a big way. It pays off by giving you the quiet confidence that comes from knowing what you're capable of. And the character to do what it takes to accomplish your goals.
JROTC offers our cadets guidelines for proper behavior. But we don't watch over you 24 hours a day to make sure you follow them. You follow them because you want to. Even when no one is watching. That's character.