JROTC

Yesterday, I was assigned an article about the JROTC at Gloucester High School. Apparently, the team made it to the nationals. Because the team was actually practicing that day, I drove over to the high school with a photographer to interview some of the kids. While I was there, I talked to the instructor. JROTC is a very interesting program--the kids all really like it, but at the same time, they get upset when the instructors yell at them. After I talked to the instructor, a couple of kids came up to me almost immediately when they figured out I was with the press. One sophomore in particular REALLY wanted to be in the paper--he came right up to me and asked if I could say something, and then went over to the photographer I was with and asked if he could do some tricks with his rifle. I also talked to two different girls, one of which was the Commanding Officer (which I guess is kind of like being a captain) of the whole team, as well as a Physical Training (PT) champion. PT is basically a competition where people perform military drills and exercises (like push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, sprints, etc) FOR FUN. It sounded like torture to me, but this girl--who is about five feet tall and ninety pounds--absolutely loves it. She and the rest of the PT division are going to San Fransisco this summer in order to compete in the National PT Championships. The other girl I met was a really great example of how JROTC could potentially increase women's leadership opportunities. In the ROTC, there are two different divisions--armed and unarmed. The armed division obviously competes with drill rifles (and sometimes swords!), and the unarmed division competes with nothing or with flags during color guard. Generally, girls participate in the unarmed division and boys compete in the armed division. But this girl I met--who, I should mention, is only a sophomore--is not only competing in the armed division, she is the commander of the team! She started doing drill last year, and ended up loving the sport! She was obviously very good at it too, and so she progressed through the ranks very quickly.
After I got back to the office, I wrote the article and it was published in the next day's paper on 4/27. I got a taste of what it is like for reporters who have to get an idea, conduct interviews, and generate a story--all in one day! Some reporters here even have to do two, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It really gives me respect for journalists--they do a LOT of work that I think most people don't appreciate enough.
Here is the link to my article which was on the front page on 4/27!!!