Col. Hunt describes the successes of Fishburne’s JROTC Academic & Leadership Teams

What a great event result for Fishburne’s JROTC Academic and Leadership Teams!

College Options Foundation conducts an Web-based National Army JROTC Academic and Leadership Bowl competition mandatory for all JROTC units (there are over 1650 programs nationally and overseas). Only the top 50% advance to Level II. Last year Fishburne’s Academic Team advanced to Level II and then placed third in Fourth Brigade which includes Virginia, NC, SC, WV, MD, DE, and DC programs. Please congratulate the participants.

The team members are:

Academic Team: Bunce (Cadet Coach), Rogers (Team Captain), Wrigley, Gomez, Cleveland, McMullen, Yoon

FMS JROTC Academic Team

Leadership Team: Hollander (Cadet Coach), Watkins (Team Captain), Burkard, Knapp, Ulrich, Barton, Shukla

FMS JROTC Leadership Team

We used our captains from last year to conduct the practices since they competed last year and were familiar with the process. They are seniors and only underclassmen are allowed to compete because the national level competition is in Washington DC this summer.  The captains did an exceptional job preparing our teams. Last year the Leadership Team did not advance to Level II so we clearly improved in that area  this year. Team Captains Ethan Bunce (Academic) and Sam Hollander (Leadership) took their roles seriously prepared our teams well. No notes or reference materials were permitted during testing. We probably have the smallest enrollment numbers of all the schools that participate in this program.

The Academic Team is based on ACT/SAT type questions, current events and some from the JROTC LET program of instruction. The Leadership Team applies values and leadership principles using scenario based questions, General George Marshall  leadership principles and “Thinking Maps,” “Classroom Performance Systems,” and learning techniques. Our teams practiced every Wednesday night after dinner in the JROTC Computer Lab using on line SAT/ACT preparations sites.  There was one practice competition to get the cadets used to the procedures. We also gave the Leadership Team  take home reference materials to study for homework.

I talked with a representative of College Options Foundations Inc, which puts the program together for the US Army Cadet Command, and he told me the main reason they want to continue the program was in order to raise SAT/ACT test scores for JROTC programs.  He has received very positive feedback from many programs that it has been beneficial and an enjoyable way to get cadets involved in SAT/ACT test preparation.

Robert A. Hunt

LTC, IN, USA (Ret)

Senior Army Instructor

Fishburne Military School

rhunt@fishburne.org