JROTC Students Add Service to Their Training

Cadet leaders with Edison High School's JROTC program were trying to identify a project to build JROTC camaraderie and to generate school pride and spirit. They decided that cleaning the school grounds at Edison would accomplish their goals. 

They asked Kurt Berry, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), who is the Senior Army Instructor at Edison High School, if they could do this as part of their physical training activity during class. He approved the assignment. 

Following the JROTC mission of 'To motivate young people to be better citizens,' Berry said, "Students also learn about leadership and then apply their leadership training during class and extracurricular activities."

Berry explained that the cadet leaders divided the school into six regions with each JROTC class responsible for cleaning a specific area. Class leaders organized and supervised the cleaning of their region. The leaders inspected the areas after the clean-up to give each class feedback on how they performed. 

"Over a two day period each of our six JROTC classes completed their clean-up, with over 50 large trash bags of litter collected," said Berry. "The students felt really good about what they accomplished for the school. Each class worked cooperatively and the project did help build esprit.

"The teachers and administrators were very complimentary about the clean-up program.  We told each class they did a very good job and then reminded them of the importance of keeping the school clean by not littering and reminding their friends to do the same."