JROTC EXCELS during Alpena summer camp

It was more than your average summer for JROTC.

While most students stayed home plugged into their phones until late at night, sleeping away the daylight hours, Taylor’s JROTC cadets spent a week in June doing things that gave them memories for life.

JROTC cadets each year attend a free, week-long summer camp in Alpena where they climb rock walls, paddle across rivers, rappel off of towers and buildings, ride in helicopters, camp out for a night, build an air-powered rocket, shoot pellet rifles, and learn to find their way through the woods using a map and compass.

Perhaps best of all, they disconnect from social media and deal with people face-to-face for five days.  This summer camp is known as JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC).

This year 13 Taylor students attended the optional camp, joining more than 600 other cadets from around Michigan.  The students were mixed together and organized into units, with cadets given leadership positions that rotated each day.  The experienced cadre of JROTC instructors and military personnel closely supervised the cadets, and helped the cadets learn how give instructions and motivate their teams to get things done. 

The five days start early and end late, the cadets walk everywhere they go, and most of the activities are physical. JCLC, like life, is easier if a student is physically strong and agile. Our cadets had an edge over those of most other schools because of the physical conditioning we do as part of the JROTC program. 

Cadet Logan Blevins said, “We had no physical problem completing any of the activities.  Our weekly workouts really helped.” 

Taylor junior Anthony Sims observed that, “I had a hard time, but it was fun. I learned a lot.” 

Another participant, junior Dalton Buck, said, “I learned that no matter how hard something may seem, if you keep at it, you will succeed.”

These comments are echoed by many JCLC participants. 

One thing that many participants found difficult at first was giving up their cell phone for one week.  Participants at JCLC must hand over their cell phones during their time at the camp.  While most students cannot imagine life unplugged from the Internet and social media, students at JCLC soon realized that actually doing things is much more enjoyable that reading posts about other people doing things.

Cadet Chris Elliott cannot wait to return next summer: “I was voted as the runner up for Best Cadet in my Company this past summer.  This coming summer I intend to take home the top spot.” 

Regardless of what awards and recognition individual cadets receive, all agree that they had fun, and learned a lot about themselves and others.  What summer activity beats that?