Video: "Integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do"

As the guest speaker at the District 218 Military Ball, Shepard High School graduate Tara McManus needed to remember her audience. She couldn’t just talk about the Air Force, her JROTC military branch in high school.

No, she addressed students enrolled in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy JROTC programs at Eisenhower and Richards high schools, too – and she seemed to fully grasp the friendly rivalry among the groups.

“The values I learned as an Air Force cadet – integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do – stuck with me and shaped me since my first day in a JROTC classroom,” said McManus, who graduated last year from Northwestern University.

She paused slightly.

“The Marine Corps and Navy values of honor, courage, and commitment match up nicely with them,” she added.