'To Motivate Young People to be Better Citizens': Colony High JROTC highlight accomplishments during school board meeting

The JROTC mission statement is clear: “To Motivate Young People to be Better Citizens.” And that was part of the mission five cadets undertook during a recent Mat-Su school board meeting.

Cadets from Colony High School JROTC first presented colors during the November 20 MSBSD school board meeting before giving the board members a brief update on the program.

Battalion Command Sergeant Major Cadet Logan Shaw told the board that he joined JROTC his freshman year, and among the responsibilities the JROTC undertake is honoring the colors at each graduation ceremony in the MSBSD. The Color Guard also performs colors for veterans’ associations, including welcoming veterans home from the Honor Flights; Memorial Day ceremonies, and the Iditarod restart in Willow.

Op Sergeant Major Haley Makar told the school board that a primary responsibility she oversees is recruitment rates, telling the board about some of the activities the JROTC engage in to encourage other students to join, including Night to Shine, a prom for students with special needs.

“It was fun. We had a lot of fun with them,” said Makar. Colony’s JROTC maintains an active presence on social media, which Makar says helps reach younger students who might want to come out and watch what they do.

“They want to hang out with people, they want to go explore options.” The group has also extended invitations to students in the 8th grade to come watch them perform, which Makar says has led to nearly double their numbers.

“What we do in our community to obtain these numbers that we have now is amazing, in my opinion.”

Cadet Captain Caleb Moffatt, who serves as the Logistics Officer, explained the cadets in JROTC are required to perform ten hours of community service per semester.

“Even then, we still have overachievers within our program, (some of) who earn 32 hours a semester, he told the board members before informing them that currently the JROTC has logged 1200 hours of community service this semester, exceeding the requirement.

Cadet 1LT Elisha Crowley, the Operations Officer discussed the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC), in which the team goes to JBER for five days of physical fitness, the Rappel Tower, riding in Black Hawk helos, swimming in Coast Guard uniforms, and adjusting to waking up at 0630 every morning.

“It’s pretty awesome. We get to do some pretty cool stuff,” he said before turning the podium over to Signal Officer 2LT Hunter Krauss, who filled in attendees on the JROTC participation in Veterans Day this year, this busiest day of the year for the company.

“It’s especially important to honor the members of the community who have served.” 2LT Krauss talked about working on the POW/MIA table.

“It was truly a changing event, to be able to understand what some of these veterans’ families go through.” He also talked about visiting the Pioneer Home, which is the only veterans’ home in Alaska, and participating in the state rifle match which was held at Colony High School.

For more information about Colony High School’s JROTC program, please visit their Facebook page or visit www.chs.matsuk12.us