TJ has hired a new JROTC instructor this year. His name is Charles Gaines, but he is no stranger to TJ; he is an alumni from the Thomas Jefferson Graduating Class of 1981.
New TJ JROTC Instructor Charles Gaines works with cadets. photo by Heather Larson.
Gaines was born in Detroit in 1963 and moved to Colorado when he was six years old. He later attended TJ for all four years of high school. During this time he wrestled and participated in the JROTC program. Gaines says school hasn’t really changed a lot since he was a student here. “We had more students back then, and three lunch periods, along with a fifteen minute break between third and fourth period,” said Gaines.
After high school he went into the Army, graduated from flight school, and served his country for more than 20 years. For his first four years in the Army, he was a helicopter repair technician. The next eighteen years in the Army, he served as a helicopter pilot. He flew a Cobra, which is an attack unit, and a Chinook transport, where he transported items. Later he became an aviation instructor, and continued to work with helicopters. Gaines has had very successful tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, one in each country, and then retired from the army in 2006.
After serving in the Army, Gaines was what he called a “househusband.” He cooked for his family, which he enjoys doing, and supported his children with the activities in which they participated, such as football, track, swimming, basketball, baseball, karate and gymnastics. Gaines has three children: two nine-year-old twins, Jasmine and Jamaal, and thirteen year old son, Charles Jr.
Chief Gaines has had a lot of success in his life. His accomplishments include being a contributor to his country, and being able to support his wife and kids. His students and family alike recognize him as an outstanding person with great ideals. His experience and knowledge will help and influence many students. “I hope that I can better the students by my leadership skills and show them how to become leaders themselves, also by the things I believe in. Always doing the right thing even when nobody is looking and being a leader, not a follower,” said Gaines. Outside of school Gaines is a local basketball coach for the Montbello Recreational Center. Gaines loves football, mainly the Broncos, and loves to cook barbecue.
The goals that Gaines has for being JROTC Chief is being a good role model to all the students, pushing them to their full potential, and helping them get to college. “I love the youth very much, especially to see them develop into great successful men and women, and to see dreams become reality,” said Gaines.
Gaines is very committed to what he does, and plans to stay here at TJ until he feels like he is no longer making a difference to the students or JROTC. Gaines came to TJ because he was impressed with the JROTC program structure, the youth, and the sports here. “I hired Mr. Gaines because of his high energy, his vision to help the JROTC program grow, and his love for our school and students,” said TJ Principal Sandra Just.
Gaines says he is very happy with the staff and students, and has nothing but good things to say about them. “The students here are well mannered, they have never been disrespectful to me, and they are all eager to be here. The staff here is great! I am happy to be here to work with the students, and I feel that the staff is top ranked,” said Gaines.
Some students like Senior Brianna “Bre” Dodson, the Battalion Commander of the JROTC program, really enjoy and appreciate Gaines. She believes that Gaines can make a significant difference to the JROTC program this year, and that he will help improve the program drastically from last year. “He is really cool, and he has a competitive nature,” said Dodson. The cadets feel practices that the JROTC has now are more intense and competitive than ever before. Gaines, however, is not the only new JROTC instructor here at TJ. Dodson also says that Sergeant Bryan Wyatt has also made a significant impact on the JROTC program. “With these two here I think that we will have a major improvement in our drill meets from last year,” said Dodson.
When Gaines was a student here at TJ his counselor told him that he couldn’t be a pilot. That counselor told him that he could only be a mechanical engineer. Gaines walked out of the office very upset. But, when he walked down that hallway alone he ran into the Assistant Principal Samuel Batey, who asked him what was wrong, and when Gaines told him, Batey told Gaines that his counselor was wrong. “You can do anything you want to in life,” said Batey. As happy as that sounded to Gaines, he still had to come up with a plan to achieve his goal of becoming a pilot. Every two weeks, Batey asked Gaines if he had worked out his plan. Gaines began to do research in the library about what colleges would accept him. “If I had walked out that office any sooner or later, I might not have ever accomplished my dreams of becoming a pilot. I thank Mr. Batey for helping me out. He motivated me to do what I wanted to do, and I still think about that day. If not for him I might not even be back here at TJ doing what I’m doing now,” said Gaines, who hopes to have the same kind of positive impact on his students’ lives.
