SHS creates state’s fourth JROTC unit
ERIC WELCH | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months, 1 week AGO
Idaho National Guardsmen Laramie Yancey and Jack Sampson speak with attendees of a Feb. 5 JROTC information session at Sandpoint Middle School.
Photo by ERIC WELCH
SANDPOINT — This September, Sandpoint High School will join a small contingent of Idaho schools hosting a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program designed to promote leadership and responsibility and offer students a pathway to military service.
SHS staff had completed the paperwork to finalize the program Feb. 18. Next year, students will be able to enroll in the course as a free elective and progress through the four-year program over the course of their high school tenure.
“It was three years in the making, so I’m thrilled to see this come to fruition,” said SHS principal Jacki Crossingham. “We’re grateful to have another program here that will help our students succeed.”
JROTC programs are federal initiatives in secondary schools sponsored by one of the U.S. Armed Forces. More than 3,000 JROTC programs operate in public and private high schools across the country, but only four exist in Idaho; SHS' Army JROTC program will join Borah High School (Army), Kuna High School (Air Force) and Kellogg High School (Marines).
In JROTC courses, students often study topics like robotics, navigation and military history, and practice drilling, fitness and first aid. While SHS' program will be partially funded by the U.S. Army, students won’t receive any combat training or be required to serve after participating.
“There's no obligation to join the military whatsoever,” SHS teacher and JROTC instructor Kyle Olmstead said during a Feb. 5 information session. “It can help them understand if it’s something they do or don’t want to do.”
By enrolling in the course, students become “cadets” who have an opportunity to gain military-like ranks by completing tasks and demonstrating leadership potential.
“The students are actually helping other students,” Olmsted said. “Those that perform well and really excel at this might get promoted as high as Cadet Sergeant and be in charge of three or five people.”
JROTC cadets can also compete against peers from other programs in events like administering aid in a mock emergency or piloting a drone through an obstacle course.
Olmstead said he encourages students to participate in competitions, but that conflicts with sports and other activities are sometimes unavoidable.
“We don’t want to restrict that at all,” he said. “We want to make sure that these kids get all the opportunities they can.”
The exact offerings of SHS’ program in its debut year, Crossingham said, are yet to be determined: “We’re building it as we go.”
“A lot of planning, a lot of decision making for this will occur from July until Aug. 30,” Olmstead added.
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