thedrifter
04-24-09, 07:14 AM
Marines landing at McCaskey?
JROTC program proposed
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Apr 24, 2009
00:22 EST
445 N Reservoir St Lancaster
By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer
McCaskey High School students can enroll in one of seven small learning communities geared toward college, trade school or careers in medicine, technology, communications, business and other fields.
They can take classes in everything from personal wellness and cosmetology to honors trigonometry and Chinese.
And they can participate on more than a dozen sports teams, drama, art and music groups and join myriad student clubs, from hip-hop dance to personal investing.
Despite all the opportunities, many pupils fail to become engaged. Lacking the structure and sense of belonging that come with participating with a group of their peers, they tend to get in trouble.
To keep these students more involved — and better behaved — School District of Lancaster is considering adding a junior ROTC program at McCaskey.
"I think it gives kids who don't have other options a feeling of empowerment," SDL board member Linda Owens said at a recent school board extracurricular committee meeting.
"For some kids who don't get structure at home and may want to consider the military, this could be a good program."
While stressing that she "is not pro-military," Owens said the district "has to look at all options because children are so different."
She asked the administration to visit the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training program at Reading High School and invite officials from that school to Lancaster to discuss the program with the school board.
If the board likes what it hears, McCaskey could begin the process of adding JROTC, which could take 18 months or more.
Reading's program is one of the largest on the East Coast, enrolling about 350 of the school's nearly 4,800 students in grades nine through 12.
Three instructors — all retired Marine Corps officers — teach the students for one period a day, using a curriculum that emphasizes leadership, discipline and respect.
Students participate in boot camp-style training and study military history, marksmanship and patriotism, among other subjects, but the program is not a recruiting tool, said Sgt. Maj. Thomas Wright, Reading's senior JROTC instructor.
"Our mission statement is to make a more productive citizen, not to recruit someone into the military," he said. "We don't steer them that way."
Wright estimates only about 3 percent of JROTC graduates go on to the military; many more end up in college.
Cadets wear uniforms once a week based on their rank. To stay in the program, they must be neatly groomed and treat adults and peers with respect, Wright said.
The students also are subject to uniform inspections and drills.
Many cadets participate on color guard or drill teams, which compete with JROTC units from other schools. They also perform frequently at school and community sporting events.
Reading High principal Wynton Butler said he's seen a "marked improvement" in student behavior since the JROTC program was established at the school in 1997.
"When you take 350 kids and all of a sudden they have a purpose, that is going to change everything in the school and the community," he said.
Butler said JROTC appeals to "the middle-of-the-road kids" who are not the best athletes or smartest students.
"It puts them in a program where they're getting direction and guidance, which they're not necessarily getting at home," he said.
"We have freshmen who come in who are completely immature and don't know what they want to do with their lives, and by the time they're juniors, they can speak in public and have been involved in dozens of community activities.
"They become role models for the student body."
Cadets who graduate from a JROTC program are eligible to join the military or enroll in a college ROTC program at a higher rank than noncadets.
If McCaskey were to start its own JROTC program, at least 100 students would have to sign up.
The instructors would be provided by the Marines but employed by SDL. The Marine Corps would pay about half their salaries.
The Corps also would provide all uniforms, teaching materials and equipment for students and instructors, such as air guns for marksmanship training.
The school district would have to provide space to house the gear and the classes.
SDL is only in the preliminary stages of considering whether to add JROTC at McCaskey, Owens said.
She wants to see statistics on test scores and graduation rates at Reading to assess whether the JROTC program has boosted academic achievement.
If McCaskey were to add JROTC to its curriculum, it would be the sixth public high school in the region to do so.
In addition to Reading, Marine Corps programs are offered at Chester and Dallastown high schools, and Harrisburg High offers a Navy JROTC program.
The other programs are at Cedar Crest (Army) and Coatesville (Air Force) high schools.
E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com
Ellie
JROTC program proposed
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Apr 24, 2009
00:22 EST
445 N Reservoir St Lancaster
By BRIAN WALLACE, Staff Writer
McCaskey High School students can enroll in one of seven small learning communities geared toward college, trade school or careers in medicine, technology, communications, business and other fields.
They can take classes in everything from personal wellness and cosmetology to honors trigonometry and Chinese.
And they can participate on more than a dozen sports teams, drama, art and music groups and join myriad student clubs, from hip-hop dance to personal investing.
Despite all the opportunities, many pupils fail to become engaged. Lacking the structure and sense of belonging that come with participating with a group of their peers, they tend to get in trouble.
To keep these students more involved — and better behaved — School District of Lancaster is considering adding a junior ROTC program at McCaskey.
"I think it gives kids who don't have other options a feeling of empowerment," SDL board member Linda Owens said at a recent school board extracurricular committee meeting.
"For some kids who don't get structure at home and may want to consider the military, this could be a good program."
While stressing that she "is not pro-military," Owens said the district "has to look at all options because children are so different."
She asked the administration to visit the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training program at Reading High School and invite officials from that school to Lancaster to discuss the program with the school board.
If the board likes what it hears, McCaskey could begin the process of adding JROTC, which could take 18 months or more.
Reading's program is one of the largest on the East Coast, enrolling about 350 of the school's nearly 4,800 students in grades nine through 12.
Three instructors — all retired Marine Corps officers — teach the students for one period a day, using a curriculum that emphasizes leadership, discipline and respect.
Students participate in boot camp-style training and study military history, marksmanship and patriotism, among other subjects, but the program is not a recruiting tool, said Sgt. Maj. Thomas Wright, Reading's senior JROTC instructor.
"Our mission statement is to make a more productive citizen, not to recruit someone into the military," he said. "We don't steer them that way."
Wright estimates only about 3 percent of JROTC graduates go on to the military; many more end up in college.
Cadets wear uniforms once a week based on their rank. To stay in the program, they must be neatly groomed and treat adults and peers with respect, Wright said.
The students also are subject to uniform inspections and drills.
Many cadets participate on color guard or drill teams, which compete with JROTC units from other schools. They also perform frequently at school and community sporting events.
Reading High principal Wynton Butler said he's seen a "marked improvement" in student behavior since the JROTC program was established at the school in 1997.
"When you take 350 kids and all of a sudden they have a purpose, that is going to change everything in the school and the community," he said.
Butler said JROTC appeals to "the middle-of-the-road kids" who are not the best athletes or smartest students.
"It puts them in a program where they're getting direction and guidance, which they're not necessarily getting at home," he said.
"We have freshmen who come in who are completely immature and don't know what they want to do with their lives, and by the time they're juniors, they can speak in public and have been involved in dozens of community activities.
"They become role models for the student body."
Cadets who graduate from a JROTC program are eligible to join the military or enroll in a college ROTC program at a higher rank than noncadets.
If McCaskey were to start its own JROTC program, at least 100 students would have to sign up.
The instructors would be provided by the Marines but employed by SDL. The Marine Corps would pay about half their salaries.
The Corps also would provide all uniforms, teaching materials and equipment for students and instructors, such as air guns for marksmanship training.
The school district would have to provide space to house the gear and the classes.
SDL is only in the preliminary stages of considering whether to add JROTC at McCaskey, Owens said.
She wants to see statistics on test scores and graduation rates at Reading to assess whether the JROTC program has boosted academic achievement.
If McCaskey were to add JROTC to its curriculum, it would be the sixth public high school in the region to do so.
In addition to Reading, Marine Corps programs are offered at Chester and Dallastown high schools, and Harrisburg High offers a Navy JROTC program.
The other programs are at Cedar Crest (Army) and Coatesville (Air Force) high schools.
E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com
Ellie