No sleeping late, long showers or cell phones.  That’s what 11 Glen Oaks High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) cadets and others faced at the Cadet Leadership Challenge Camp in late May.  Instead, there were early morning wake-ups, 5-minute showers and no cell phones in sight, not to mention activities for 12 hours a day in the scorching Southern heat.

The camp, held at Camp Beauregard near Pineville, La., included more than 250 other cadets representing about six parishes.  The JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge Camp objectives are to build citizenship, develop leadership skills, build self-esteem and have fun.  The camp accomplishes its objective through the assignment of leadership roles and responsibilities and adventure training.  In total, 92 of the cadets attending camp this year were from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.

Cadets attending from Glen Oaks High School were:  Ronnie Wilson, Cherrell Day, Kristopher Hill, Drexel Mellion, Ayanna Cook, Torian Peabody, Zachary Gistaub, DeMartavious Taylor, Andre Cummings, Breanna Thomas and Jasmine Gaines-Bell.  Master Sgt. Thomas Jordan, JROTC Instructor at Glen Oaks High School, (pictured, right) assisted many of these cadets in confidence training during the camp

When asked what the cadets have learned about themselves while at camp, Peabody, an upcoming sophomore cadet, said “I learned that I can do more than I ever thought that I could.”  Wilson, an upcoming junior and winner of two overall fitness competitions at camp, added “I have learned to take things more seriously.”

JROTC is designed to teach high school students the value of citizenship, leadership, service to the community, personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment while instilling in them self-esteem, teamwork and self-discipline. It is a stimulus for promoting graduation from high school and provides instruction and rewarding opportunities that will benefit the student, community and nation. Participation in Junior ROTC does not obligate the student to enlist in the military.