September 12, 2019 at 4:28 p.m.
Jay Schools to get JROTC program
Jay Schools to get JROTC program
JROTC is coming to Jay Schools.
Superintendent Jeremy Gulley announced Wednesday that Jay School Corporation has been approved to start a U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program for the 2020-21 school year.
Gulley has been pursuing such a program for about six years, even before he became superintendent. That effort, he added, was because of frequent requests from students and parents.
Starting a new program is rare, he said, noting the typically it only happens if another program shuts down. But upon another student request about a year ago, he applied to bring a JROTC program to Jay County.
On Sept. 4, he received an email indicating that his request had been approved.
Gulley is excited about being able to offer JROTC to local students.
“It’s a good program,” he said. “Citizenship and leadership skills it instills are just enormous.”
Superintendent Jeremy Gulley announced Wednesday that Jay School Corporation has been approved to start a U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program for the 2020-21 school year.
Gulley has been pursuing such a program for about six years, even before he became superintendent. That effort, he added, was because of frequent requests from students and parents.
Starting a new program is rare, he said, noting the typically it only happens if another program shuts down. But upon another student request about a year ago, he applied to bring a JROTC program to Jay County.
On Sept. 4, he received an email indicating that his request had been approved.
Gulley is excited about being able to offer JROTC to local students.
“It’s a good program,” he said. “Citizenship and leadership skills it instills are just enormous.”
Army JROTC was launched in schools in 1964 in an effort to instill “the values of citizenship, service to the United States and personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment.” It currently operates in more than 1,700 locations.
Curriculum includes leadership, health and wellness, physical fitness, first-aid, geography, American history and government, communications and emotional intelligence.
Having such a program in Jay Schools is special for Gulley, who retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Indiana Army National Guard.
“It’s a personal connection,” he said, adding that his involvement in the military allowed him to see the world and attend college on a scholarship. “As a young person myself who enlisted in the military when I was 17 years old … I have 28 years of seeing how that experience shaped me.”
Gulley noted that the Army’s goal for such programs is that 100 students or 10 percent of the student body be involved.
“We’ll only be able to keep the program long-term if the parents, kids and the community will support it,” he said. He added that he plans to work with local veterans organizations to connect them to the new program.
Preparation to bring JROTC to Jay Schools is already underway today. Master Sgt. Richard Kauffman, a Jay County High School graduate who leads the JROTC program in Blackford Schools, will visit his alma mater today to offer advice about the implementation process.
The agreement with the Department of the Army requires that the unit be staffed by at least one officer and one noncommissioned officer, with the first instructor to be hired no later than Aug. 31. The first site visit from the Army JROTC program representative is scheduled for next month.
Curriculum includes leadership, health and wellness, physical fitness, first-aid, geography, American history and government, communications and emotional intelligence.
Having such a program in Jay Schools is special for Gulley, who retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Indiana Army National Guard.
“It’s a personal connection,” he said, adding that his involvement in the military allowed him to see the world and attend college on a scholarship. “As a young person myself who enlisted in the military when I was 17 years old … I have 28 years of seeing how that experience shaped me.”
Gulley noted that the Army’s goal for such programs is that 100 students or 10 percent of the student body be involved.
“We’ll only be able to keep the program long-term if the parents, kids and the community will support it,” he said. He added that he plans to work with local veterans organizations to connect them to the new program.
Preparation to bring JROTC to Jay Schools is already underway today. Master Sgt. Richard Kauffman, a Jay County High School graduate who leads the JROTC program in Blackford Schools, will visit his alma mater today to offer advice about the implementation process.
The agreement with the Department of the Army requires that the unit be staffed by at least one officer and one noncommissioned officer, with the first instructor to be hired no later than Aug. 31. The first site visit from the Army JROTC program representative is scheduled for next month.
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