Thomas Jefferson JROTC placed second last week in the All-City JROTC Comprehensive Exam Competition, a first for the uniformed Spartans.
by Morgan Dorn
photo by Manuel Perez
The All-City Comprehensive Exam Competition pitted the TJ JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) against nine other schools in the Denver district on April 10th at TJ.
The competition is based on an exam that covers basic knowledge of military, every-day, and historical concepts. The cadets are tested on this knowledge based on their Leadership Education Training level, or LET, and the scores from each unit are combined for an overall average for the corps. The LET levels correspond with the number of full school years cadets have been active in the program, and include levels one through three, as seniors are not tested.
Each JROTC Corps in the Denver district took a similar exam on April 10th; the scores were then taken to the Director of Army Instruction for the Denver Public Schools for assessment. After the scores of the exams had been tallied, the mighty Spartan JROTC proved to have an elevated level of expertise, coming in 2nd place overall, dominating South, who came in 3rd, and following closely behind 1st place Kennedy.
The win meant much for the Spartan cadets as a corps. “It’s more of a pride thing. We will achieve not individual recognition, but team recognition,” said Major Joe George, the retired Army Instructor who heads the TJ JROTC. “This is a first for us. Kennedy got first place, but we beat out all of even the heavy hitters,” said George.
Spartan Cadet Corporal Daniel Cole, an LET One and freshman at TJ, was also excited by the accomplishment. “JROTC is going to help me get to college, and I want to be in the military so it’s good practice. The marching, the protocol, the style of leadership, preparing for the test, these are all things that I have learned from JROTC, and will take with me for the rest of my life. Our success in taking the exam shows that motivation and dedication will take us, take me, anywhere I want to go,” said Cole.
The high marks on the exam also will help to gain TJ’s cadets more points toward winning the Denver Board of Education Trophy, which is awarded to the Denver JROTC program with the most combined points from other JROTC competitions throughout the school year. TJ’s JROTC will find out whether or not they won the trophy after the All-City JROTC Competition held on May 1st.
