This year, JROTC did a lot to get prepared for the military world. They competed in multiple different events such as Archery, Color Guard, Drill, and Dual.
Our students going to Ringgold’s JROTC have done many things this year. They competed, and won, multiple events, one of these being Drill. They went to regions in Parksville this year and ended up winning in the Female Dual. One of the winners, Junior Emalee Grant said, “It was my first time doing a duel with my partner. We got to compete in Regions, and we got first place for the Female Dual.” She ended up taking second place in Solo Duals as well. Senior Nick Cook is going to nationals for Duals with his partner, Noel Parell from Ringgold. He had prepared in a unique way, claiming, “It’s actually just making sure that we’re caught up in school work, because if we fail classes, we can’t go at all.” They are expected to do pretty good even with all of the highly rated competition.
Another event they competed in was Archery. They had some students compete, and get second place in 3-D, and third place in Ten and Fifteen Meters. One student, senior Thomas Morris, said, “When I joined archery, my instructor was telling us that what it takes is motivation and rhythm.” Archery had many opportunities to try for Nationals but the funding didn’t allow them.
We also had students compete in Color Guard. Grant believed that the students did good this year even with so many new people after others graduated: “Color Guard has actually been our past year’s best. It’s just that we’ve gotten a bunch of new people, and a bunch of our seniors had left. Not the best as what we could have done, but I’m proud of what we managed.” Grant explained. The Color Guard didn’t have the opportunity to go to Nationals this year, because of funding, but next year they have a shot.
Also competing at Regionals this year, the LFO ROTC team qualified for the State Drill Meet. During the year, they went in many hikes in the Chickamauga Battlefield, will attend summer camp in May, and were even able to present the colors at a Chattanooga Lookouts game.
This year JROTC has done many things to bring light to how good of a program they actually are. They are hoping for a better year next year, and are ready to give their all.
