JROTC is a student-led program at Beaver Area High School for students who may or not be interested in joining the military. The program is designed to develop cadets’ leadership skills and put them to the test while also teaching essential skills needed in life—first aid, decision making, stress management, and leadership.

Under the leadership of Col. Deb Wilson and SMG Oscar Weaver, typically the JROTC would be engaged in community service, food or toy drives, and parades, but due to COVID-19 all events have had to be cancelled.

“We tried to do a toy drive in December, but it got canceled the day after we set it up,” shared First Lieutenant junior Erin Bell.

Bell continued and explained that “for community service we usually go to Rochester Manor or Friendship Ridge and volunteer there, but those places have a lot of senior citizens and we didn’t want to put them at risk.”

Although not everything the JROTC does has been cancelled. JROTC has six teams the cadets can choose to join, and even with COVID-19 they have been able to have some competitions safely.

The Academic Excellence team had competitions in early January, and the Marksmanship team competed January 23, but despite the teams’ impressive efforts they were not able to obtain any wins.

However, the teams continue to have early morning practices in preparation for their quickly approaching competitions in the next few months. They have been working hard and finding creative ways to better themselves during the challenges COVID-19 has presented.

The drill team will compete March 27 and hope to continue their 11-year winning streak; the color guard team competition is scheduled for March 27 as well; and the Raiders competition is planned for May—no specific date yet—but the team plans on continuing their five-year win streak.

With COVID continuing to put events on hold or cancel them altogether, the JROTC program still hopes to hold their military ball April 10—an annual celebration and dance designed to honor all the cadets, but mainly the senior cadets. This event is a crowd favorite among the cadets and they all hope they will be able to celebrate their hard work together this year.

As always, the JROTC continues to find new ways to help better the community despite the challenges brought from COVID-19.