JROTC students to compete in drill, rifle competition at Snohomish High

SNOHOMISH — Teams from seven area high schools are facing off in a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps drill and rifle competition here Saturday.

Students will be vying in air-rifle marksmanship and physical fitness contests, such as a one-mile run and timed pushups and situps. They’ll be marching in armed and unarmed drills and presenting the color guard.

The Snohomish High School Marine Corps JROTC unit is hosting the contest from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the gymnasium.

Ashley Wilkins, a sophomore at Snohomish High, is a squad leader for her JROTC class. She competes in co-ed rifle contests, shooting 20 pellets at targets that are 10 meters away to earn points.

“I’m a fairly good shot,” she said.

Wilkins, 14, said she’s a better shot than the boys, at least most of the time. She competed at a national JROTC rifle contest last week in Phoenix.

Despite the competitive aspects of the program, Wilkins said, the JROTC students are a tight-knit group.

“There’s a sense of involvement you have to have,” she said. “You have to have a connection with the people you work with.”

Captain William Lennon, a retired U.S. Marine Corps infantry officer, has taught the JROTC program at Snohomish High since 2008. Teenagers from Glacier Peak and Monroe high schools also take the class.

This year, 125 students are enrolled in Snohomish’s JROTC program. They are not obligated to join the military after high school.

“It’s a leadership class in the high school,” Lennon said. “We provide opportunities for students to lead and serve the school and their community.”

JROTC students focus on physical education as well as academic subjects, such as history and navigation with map and compass. They follow certain military-like procedures, such as standing at attention while attendance is taken at the start of class.

Students don their uniforms Fridays and are graded on their presentation. They follow the same standards as those who are enlisted for their appearance while in uniform.

Students also work on community service projects. Lennon said they work a combined 2,500 hours a year, doing blood drives, helping with school events or working alongside community groups.

Each JROTC student has to do at least 10 hours of community service every semester but many work beyond the requirement.

Lennon became a teacher after serving 20 years in the military. He hopes to pass lessons he learned on to the teenagers in the program.

“It’s to teach leadership and responsibility,” he said. “And to serve something bigger than themselves whether it be their school, their community or their country.”

Most students stay in the program all four years of high school. Lennon said watching them mature both physically and mentally during their time in JROTC is rewarding.

This weekend’s contest is an extracurricular activity for the students. Teams from Everett, Marysville, Snohomish, Arlington, Burlington, Oak Harbor and Tacoma will be competing.

Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.