Fishburne Military School Junior Achievement Reaches Out in Afton
Afton, VA — Yesterday, a team of 38 Cadet leaders from Fishburne Military School spent the day at our partner school, Rockfish River Elementary School (Afton, VA) to conduct the National Junior Achievement High School Heroes program.
The Cadets broke into teams to teach 9 classes, consisting of 200 students in grades 3 – 5, for the entire school day. This marks the first time Fishburne Military School has participated in this program.
This service learning project is a major part of the new JROTC Program Assessment. In order to take on such an 
ambitious, high-level program, the Cadets spent 2-1/2 weeks preparing their lesson plans and receiving guidance from their own instructors and advisors.
On Wednesday night, during study hall, the 9 teaching groups conducted their final preparations with their FMS JROTC Instructors: LTC Robert Hunt, First-Sergeant James Hensley and Master Sergeant William Morton.
Fishburne Battalion Commander, Luciano Dolfi (Stuarts Draft, VA), was among the Cadets participating and noted that he gained a far greater appreciation for the discipline of teaching. “We really had to learn the importance of patience and preparation in teaching and working with kids. The Cadets really took this seriously and did really well. We really seemed to flow well with the students,” he noted.
Cadet Alex Ralston (Nellysford, VA) agreed that preparation made the difference between success and embarrassment. Each class was made up of 18-26 students and that many squirming, starting bodies can be enough to intimidate anyone, but the Caissons pressed on. “We were all a little nervous about actually having to get up and teach a real lesson to this group of kids,” Ralston explained, “but all that stress seemed to melt away once we got going and got into our lessons.”
Ralston’s lesson for the elementary schoolers included explanations about the different type of businesses in a community and the different types of zoning requirements.
Ralston tackled the tough topic by concentrating on making his lesson plan interactive and by incorporating rewards and fun. His students were given paper models of different kinds of buildings “at the end, they could put them together to build a little city block. If they liked them, they could take them home or,” he smiled, “they could play Godzilla for a minute and crush them.”
As a sign of their success in connecting with the young students, Ralston points to the end of the day when Rockfish students showed their appreciation. “The kids all dog-piled on us with hugs.” He concluded that, overall, “it was a good, memorable project and was a really great hands-on kind of way to learn about teaching, leadership and motivation.”
Upon returning from Rockfish River, Senior Army Instructor Hunt noted “I can report that Fishburne Military School had a tremendously successful Junior Achievement event. We should all be proud of their performance and conduct. They represented the FMS Corps of Cadets in an outstanding manner. The Rockfish River Elementary School students were enthusiastic, motivated and engaged all day long.”
Hunt concluded “This was a great mentoring opportunity for our cadet leaders.”
Fishburne Military School is the oldest and smallest of all military schools for boys in Virginia. Its college-prep curriculum is built upon the structure of an Army JROTC program. FMS is designated as a JROTC Honor Unit with Distinction and may nominate qualified candidates to the United States Service Academies. Fishburne hosts one of only four Summer JROTC programs in the nation, accredited by US Army Cadet Command.
