by James C. Sherlock
Richmond Senior High School (RSHS) is a 1,200-student grades-10-to-12 school in the Sandhills Region of North Carolina.
Its mission, vision and belief statements genuflect at none of the shrines of progressive dogma. Not a single one.
Minority enrollment is 57% of the student body (majority Black), which is higher than the North Carolina state average of 54% (majority Black).
RSHS is ranked in the top 10% of high schools in North Carolina for math proficiency. That is after, as is a practice in the North Carolina system, the best students have been skimmed off to Richmond Early College High on the same campus, but whose school is graded separately.
All RSHS students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Nearly 90% of students and parents surveyed agreed the school was competitive. That still, at least to those parents, seemed a good thing.
The school features its Army Junior ROTC program.
It is a source of pride, as is highly awarded and accomplished scholar and athlete Cadet Major Andrea Ellerbe, pictured above.
Ellerbe’s future plans include attending East Carolina University in fall of 2023 as part of the ROTC program majoring in business and accounting.
The New York Times
(NYT) literally cannot imagine any of that.
Dismayed by JROTC and playing to its base, The New York Times published an article headlined “Thousands of Teens Are Being Pushed Into Military’s Junior R.O.T.C.”
Cue the progressive rending of garments. Tears were shed on the Upper East Side for the micro aggressions suffered both in the research for the article — and in reading it.
They don’t get it. Never will.
They have never met Cadet Major Ellerbe.
Some of her accolades:
- Honor Roll student all four years;
- RSHS Senate;
- Richmond County Schools Superintendent Student Council;
- MVP of the RSHS girls track and field team indoor in 2018 and outdoor in 2022;
- North Carolina track and field championship qualifier in four events in 2020. In North Carolina, she is ranked top 10 in the 100-yard dash and top 15 in the 200-yard dash.
Ms. Ellerbe is headed to college on an ROTC scholarship.
But whether they go on to college, the military or any other path in life, JROTC graduates are extraordinarily valuable to society.
Virginia. Virginia has a robust JROTC program that includes 122 Army, Marine, Navy and Air Force units.
Look at it. You will likely be surprised. Accounting for the high schools that are too small to support a JROTC unit and the high schools that share one, it is very impressive.
Military science training is what the curriculum is called.
All expenses are paid for by DoD — instructors, uniforms, computer equipment, office materials, demilitarized rifles, insurance, etc. and some expensive specialized training for the most promising students. That costs an average $150,000 a year per unit in 2019, not including the specialized training.
JROTC suffered along with everything else during COVID.
It is past time for VDOE to acknowledge the value of the programs in Virginia. They have never done so and don’t today.
The program. I quote the following from Virginia’s City of Richmond Public Schools (RPS) website:
Military Science
The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) is a high schools program that teaches students character education, student achievement, wellness, leadership, and diversity.
It is a cooperative effort between the military and the high schools to produce successful students and citizens, while fostering in each school a more constructive and disciplined learning environment.
Outcomes of the JROTC Program:
With the school’s support, the JROTC program achieves these outcomes by using a world-class 21st Century, technology driven, student centered curriculum taught by retired military personnel. The curriculum consists of education in citizenship, leadership, social and communication skills, physical fitness and wellness, geography, and civics.
- Act with integrity and personal accountability as they lead others to succeed in a diverse and global workforce
- Engage civic and social concerns in the community, government, and society
Graduate prepared to excel in post-secondary options and career pathways- Make decisions that promote positive social, emotional, and physical heath
- Value the role of the military and other service organizations
You read that right. City of Richmond Virginia public schools.
JROTC is one of the most important and successful youth programs in American history. It has contributed immeasurably to the national character and is indispensable to the national defense.
Which was the real motivation for the NYT to run its story under the chosen headline.
The Times article. In deploring that JROTC had been made mandatory in a couple of dozen scattered schools, the reporters found someone to provide their real message:
“The only word I can think of is ‘indoctrination,’” one parent said.
The Times found that:
dozens of schools have made the program mandatory or steered more than 75 percent of students in a single grade into the classes, including schools in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City and Mobile, Ala. A vast majority of the schools with those high enrollment numbers were attended by a large proportion of nonwhite students and those from low-income households.
So, majority poor, nonwhite high schools really like JROTC. That, dear reporters, is the story here.
They noted that some schools in Chicago had committed the same offense. What, on the south side of Chicago, could those principals have been thinking?
Schools should not make it mandatory and DoD certainly doesn’t want them to. It makes the program much harder to run.
But what a powerful vote of confidence.
In paragraph 12, inevitably several pages after the wringing of hands part was seen, they started to acknowledge the attractions and value of JROTC, as if poor minority schools headed by minority principals making it mandatory was not enough of a clue.
High school principals who have embraced the program say it motivates students who are struggling, teaches self-discipline to disruptive students and provides those who may feel isolated with a sense of camaraderie. It has found a welcome home in rural areas where the military has deep roots but also in urban centers where educators want to divert students away from drugs or violence and toward what for many can be a promising career or a college scholarship.
And military officials point to research indicating that J.R.O.T.C. students have better attendance and graduation rates, and fewer discipline problems at school.
But that, you will notice, was not the headline.
Bottom line. I recommend parents of middle schoolers look here and check out JROTC as an option for your children in high school.
VDOE can provide a major service to parents by tracking and reporting the high school achievement differences between JROTC students and their peers. It belongs in the school quality profiles.
School divisions should make sure JROTC units and their students are welcomed in every school they grace with their presence.
Check the performance of each unit regularly and ensure it is getting the support it merits and the nation needs.
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