ROTC Rocks!

I was in a high school one day where I was monitoring the open gym at lunch time.

I assisted by the ROTC commander at the school and we got into a discussion about his program.

He was a cool dude with a buzz cut and a definite military structure, but he had a jovial urban slant in his speech that embraced him his ROTC kids and non-ROTC kids alike.  

He told me that he was in the military for a long time and he was looking for a new challenge. 

When the opportunity arose to run ROTC program at this high school, he jumped at the chance.

During our conversation, he told me about the physical training that kids go through on weekly basis., Now for a non-work out person like myself , it seemed like a lot, but in essence, those  students were arguably in better shape physically than their most of the peers AND their  teachers.

He noted that ROTC gives his kid a structure that some may not have at home or in the other cases strengthens the path of success for those students who are either headed to the military or remain as civilians.

The best part of our discussion was when he told me when they have events where the ROTC cadets receive awards.  

The parking lot and the gym are packed full of parents, guardians, friends and family who cheer on the cadet’s success. This type of the support means a lot to the ROTC students and it reinforces that their hard work actually meant something.

In contrast, he mentioned  that there very  few cars and even less parents who attend the  parent- teacher conferences, which is a shame since no- ROTC kids also needs that kind of encouragement.

This is not say that every kid should be in ROTC, but maybe some of the structured principals from ROTC should be adapted into schools where the grades are low and the lack of disciple is high.

But if parents do not get involved in PTA or even attend parent’s teacher conferences that child might not reach their full potential.

If they see that their parents do not care about their education, whys should they?

*(If you are part of ROTC program, can you tell us the success stories of your students?   If you subbed in a ROTC program or worked in a school that was discipled, can you tell us the difference between that school and a regular school?)