JROTC cadets lead students in daily pledge of allegiance

Faith Miller – Mustangs Ahead

(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL) – The Lakewood Ranch High School (LRHS) Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program reads the pledge of allegiance over the school Public Address (PA) system each morning as a portion of its Continuous Improvement Process (CIP).

For many cadets within the Mustang Battalion, reading the pledge is an important part of completing company responsibilities while encouraging patriotism among the entire LRHS student body.

Battalion Senior Army Instructor Maj. Shaun O’Dea works with the student leaders to ensure that all student tasks are completed efficiently.

O’Dea said, “The responsibility to coordinate this task lies solely with the cadet chain of command this year; they are the ones that ensure this morning routine is carried out. Mrs. (retired LRHS assistant principal Valencia) Lowen has asked us to support this important event, and it is our honor to do so.”

While LRHS made the decision to move the morning news to fourth period, the state requirement of the pledge still stood.

Battalion command sergeant major Muda Osman worked with the staff and companies to ensure that the pledge is read properly each morning in a timely manner.

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Osman said, “This year it will be my responsibility to manage pledge-reading; I will be putting an emphasis on punctuality and respect when selecting cadets to read each week.”

Each week, a different company/class period is assigned responsibilities to complete for duty company. Student cadets are selected to read the pledge per the duty company rotation.

The battalion staff began reading the pledge for the week of August 15 through August 20, starting with battalion executive officer Cordelia Ramsden, senior.

Ramsden said, “Reading the pledge can be stressful in front of the entire school, but it is an important part of our responsibilities as a staff, and it helps our program to set an honorable example for the rest of the school.”