“I was surprised by the effort put into the march; it was great to see the students enjoy themselves." -1st Sgt. Gray
JROTC students represent their school at the Civic Center.
by Martha Alvarez
For TJ’s JROTC there wasn’t a prouder day than November 8, marching down the long road that cuts through downtown Denver to celebrate the honorable men and women who have served in the U.S Military.
“The Veterans Day Parade is held every year to honor all the soldiers who have given their lives and served this country, and it is great to be able to participate in it,” said Junior Ana Camacho. Thomas Jefferson High School’s JROTC considers it an honor to participate in this Parade. There were seventy-eight students who went out to the Civic Center on November 8th to march in the Parade.
“We’ve had a great year so far. We had one of the biggest percentage turnouts since I have been working at TJ,” said First Sergeant Carl Gray, who has been teaching the JROTC students at TJ for the past seventeen years. All of the cadets had been preparing for the parade for the past couple of weeks and were glad to be able to use their marching skills. They had been practicing very hard to show off their new skills in the parade. It was very important for the cadets to show how much they learned in order to take on the competitive nature of all the other JROTC battalions.
“Other students have told me that the parade gets very competitive. We were encouraged by everyone to go to the parade and represent our program,” said Luis Martinez, a first year student in the JROTC. The other Battalions, which include East, Abraham Lincoln, Denver West, South, Montbello, John F. Kennedy, North, Aurora Central, Air Force Academy, Manual and George Washington High Schools, brought with them all of their cadets and a lot of school spirit for the patriotic event. Throughout the parade, schools tried to out cheer each other, giving the event a more competitive edge.
“I’m proud to see these people understand the meaning of these veterans. It’s also good for the cadets to see their families and friends out there yelling for them. That encourages the students to keep on participating in events like these,” said Lieutenant Colonel Russell, the Instructor for East High School.
Everyone was also amazed by the freshmen who are new to the JROTC program and are beginning marchers. “I was surprised by the effort put into the march; it was great to see the students enjoy themselves,” said Gray.
Having one of the smaller battalions, the Spartans stood out from all the others. TJ’s growing number of JROTC students has also helped TJ to be recognized. “It’s nice to see that other schools are beginning to recognize ROTC as an important part of their student community,” said Russell. In past years TJ has had a small turnout of cadets, which makes this year a bit more special. “Cadets have realized that going to things like the Veterans Day Parade can be fun, help their grades, and our school,” said Emma Olan, a sophomore in the program. All cadets who participated in the Parade for the first time were promoted to a higher rank.
There were 65 students who were promoted from cadets to privates, giving them a higher place on the JROTC scale. “I really hope that the promotions will motivate our freshmen to come back another year, since every new rank means more authority in JROTC,” said Joanna Carrillo, who has been in the program for three years, and is now a Second Lieutenant.
“This has been one of our most successful years in the JROTC program, and events like the Veterans Day Parade are helping us be recognized,” said Gray.
