Belleville HS launches JROTC program to motivate students

By Javon Ross Staff Writer

Belleville High School recently launched its JROTC program, much to the delight of its civic-minded students looking for an entrypoint into the military, or even just looking to stay fit and disciplined.

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“It’s an elective class, one that the kids sign up for; no one is forced to be in JROTC,” Lt. Col. Richard Wasserman, who is retired from the U.S. Army and serving as Belleville JROTC’s unit leader, told the Belleville Post. “It is a regular curriculum that has been provided by the Army. This year we are teaching selfawareness, how to wear your uniform, things along those lines.”

The JROTC has been active for six months at the high school and has 63 students active in the program so far.

Wasserman and Belleville Middle School Principal Aida S. Cardona, the Belleville JROTC coordinator, consider this to be a great first step and anticipate that those numbers will increase as the program continues.

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“The students that are in now are in what is called the LET 1; next year they will be in LET 2 and we will bring in a whole new group,” Cardona told the Belleville Post. LET stands for Leadership Education and Training. “These students came in without any introductions, so I am really proud that we have come so far. Really soon we are going to incorporate after-school programs.”

The students have taken the opportunity to volunteer and help across the township as a part of the program.

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“On Dec. 17, we did Wreaths Across America, where the kids would place wreaths on the graves of veterans,” Wasserman said. “They read a list of Vietnam veterans who passed and one of our students rang a bell. The kids had a good time.”

Each week the students take part in drills and exercises that show them their potential should they one day join the armed forces.

“At least once a week, the students learn how to march, how to salute; the kids get a kick out of it,” Wasserman said. “There is a game called knockout: We have all the kids in a group; we give commands, and if you mess up you sit down. The winner gets gummy bears.”

The program institutes discipline, hard work and pride in the students, which is reflected in their test scores during exams, according to Belleville High School Principal Caleb Rhodes.

“Our students took the ASVAB” — Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test — “two weeks ago; our students in the program performed better than the See NEW JROTC, Page 14