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New JROTC program offers opportunities at BHS

(Continued from Page 1) students who are not in the program,” Rhodes told the Belleville Post. “That screams motivation; they have something that they are working towards. They are working with Lt. Col. Wasserman. They realize that this is important and work towards it. This just shows how a program like this can motivate students.”

The JROTC program was a cadet corps program until Cardona completed the application process to transform the program at the high school.

“We just started last year. We were formerly the NDCC, which means the National Defense Cadet Corps,” Cardona said. “It was funded by the school district. We got approved on Feb. 1 last year and are now funded by the military. We had to be inspected and meet certain criteria, such as space and personnel.”

The school is also looking to expand the program for travel and competitions with other schools as a part of a districtwide JROTC program.

“We have competitive teams, drill ceremonies, color guards and a lot of marching,” Wasserman said. “There is also testing for leadership and academics, competing with high schools all across the country and Germany. If you win your division, they have a national championship in Washington, D.C., towards the end of June.”

While some students in the JROTC may choose to join the armed services or attend a military academy, most do not go down that route.

“The purpose of the JROTC is not to have kids join the military. Some do, but the majority do not for various reasons,” Wasserman said. “They can do things in high school that they will never do anywhere else.”

Rhodes had wanted to implement a JROTC program at the high school since he first arrived six years ago and is pleased with the recent progress.

“Dr. Cardona did a great job putting everything together,” Rhodes said. “This program teaches students personal responsibility, giving back to the community and personal motivation. It builds our kids up in ways that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. It is extremely important and lends itself to other areas of being successful, both in college and in life.”

Many former Belleville students had expressed interest in a JROTC program prior to its official launch at the school.

“The interest has always been there with some of our kids, even when I was a vice principal here,” Cardona said. “Some of the students would talk about it and engage with me because I was also in the military; they felt that connection. Some of the kids that graduated wished that we had a program that existed prior to them leaving.”

Students involved in the JROTC who aspire to attend a military academy or any branch of the armed forces often benefit from speaking to members of the military, according to Wasserman.

“I had a Naval Academy representative here talking to the kids before Christmas break,” Wasserman said. “It was a female, which got the students’ attention; she talked about all the things that she experienced.”

The students in the program also have the chance to qualify for free college if they apply to any of the military academies, which Wasserman reminds students are top colleges.

“If you join the state National Guard, you can get in-state tuition covered,” Wasserman said. “You get a great education and, with a little commitment, you save a lot of money.”

Students in the JROTC also have the advantage of preparing for life beyond high school, not just in terms of college, but in terms of the job market as well.

“Anything that you can think of in the civilian world, you can find it in the military,” Wasserman said. “And through the JROTC and the military, you get trained for free, and paid too.”

DEVILS PROVE TO BE ANGELS IN RED — New Jersey Devils players and alumni visited patients and staff at all RWJBarnabas Health hospitals on Thursday, Dec. 8. Above left, New Jersey Devils Kevin Bahl, Andreas Johnsson, Vitek Vanecek and Jesper Bratt visit with Devils fan Joseph Iannini, a patient from Nutley, and nurse Brianna DeLucrezia, at the

Continuum of Care and Clinical Services Officer Dr. Frank Mazzarella.

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