Mays and Therrell High School cadets get “army strong”

Last week, over 100 Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) cadets from 10 APS schools did more before six a.m. than their peers did all day.

The 2013 JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC) Benning, held  near Columbus, GA at the Fort Benning army base, gave JROTC cadets from schools around the country — including Kimberly McQuay of Mays High School and Jasmine Rogers of Therrell High School – an opportunity to test the limits of their endurance, stamina and leadership capabilities during a six-day camp adventure.

As a hands-on military summer camp, the JCLC allows cadets practice leadership and citizenship-building exercises and develop military skills in a military environment.  And since Fort Benning is providing the training facilities and equipment, the teenage trainees live and interact with their peers in an authentic military setting.

The JCLC is a hands on military camp adventure that introduces cadets to life in a military environment.

The JCLC attendees rise at dawn every day to prepare for daily routines designed to increase everyone’s strength, confidence and leadership abilities. But the objective is not to have cadets leave the adventure camp physically drained and mentally whipped, camp coordinators say they want attendees to have fun, so the training includes land navigation, water survival training, an obstacle course, rappel and confidence course and a 34-foot airborne jump tower.

We sent a camera out to Fort Benning to capture the experience first hand.  Hear what Kimberly McQuay from Mays H.S. and Jasmine Rogers from Therrell H.S. had to say: http://youtu.be/tUH226hvpyo

To learn more about Atlanta Public Schools, visitwww.atlantapublicschools.us or www.talkupaps.com.  You can also follow the district on Twitter @apsupdate.