Cadets from E. C. Glass High School Air Force JROTC have advanced to compete in the National Championships of the AFJROTC Academic Bowl to be held in Washington, DC the in June 2015. The local team was one of only eight from across the nation who advanced as far as the national competition level from a pool of 220 schools who competed, according to competition officials.
Team coach Cadet First Lieutenant Annmarie Taheny, said the knowledge areas in the challenge tests include JROTC curriculum, math, science and language arts. "I’m so proud of all of the enthusiasm and hard work the cadets poured into this,” she said. “I'm glad we can uphold the tradition of excellence for both E. C. Glass and JROTC.”
The annual JROTC Academic Bowl is sponsored by the College Options Foundation which is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to enriching the academic development students and assisting them in preparation for higher education, according to Senior Master Sergeant Don Dougherty, ECG Aerospace Science Instructor. “One of the main goals of the JROTC Academic Bowl is to prepare students for graduation and college entrance exams such as SAT and ACT,” he said.
Team member Cadet Master Sergeant Tyler Jones expressed the accomplishment algebraically. “If X equal team, then X equal success.” Jones said. He proved crucial to the team’s domination in the math area in February, according to Dougherty.
“Practice, practice and then some practice,” was the key to such a successful year, according to Cadet Captain DJ Johnston. “We practiced hard to make it to DC and it feels good to see our hard work pay off,” he said.
Cadet Major Akylia Walker looks forward to the upcoming trip. “It’s an honor to make it this far and represent our school at this level.” She said. “I think this is more a reflection on our great teachers that it is for us.”
The winner of the Air Force JROTC Championship will compete against winners of the Army, Marine Corps and Navy JROTC Academic Bowls in the JROTC Joint Service Academic Bowl Championship.