May 18, 2018 3 min read

JEFFERSON – Jefferson-Morgan High School students will have the chance to join the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps next year through a partnership with a nearby school district.

About 50 interested students attended an information session Tuesday with Lt. Col. Wayne Sodowsky, Albert Gallatin High School’s senior army instructor for their JROTC program.

Now, Jefferson-Morgan Principal Brandon Robinson said he’s in the process of scheduling a visit for interested students to visit Albert Gallatin in southwestern Fayette County before the end of the school year.

Sodowsky explained to interested students the purpose of JROTC, which is not to ensure students enlist in the military, but to develop citizenship and leadership skills. He explained the academic requirements, along with the physical rigors of JROTC, the Department of Defense’s largest youth development program in schools nationwide.

Students participate in service programs, parades, field trips and activities outside the school day. Sodowsky said students complete more than 1,500 community service hours a year and learn life skills and develop career goals.

Seven Albert Gallatin Army JROTC cadets accompanied him on the trip, talking about various teams and activities they participate in through the program. After the formal presentation, students had the chance to talk with current JROTC members and ask questions.

James McGrath, a Navy veteran, an officer in the Coast Guard Reserve and Jefferson-Morgan social studies teacher, will act as a local liaison for the program, handling scheduling, logistics and helping to incorporate some JROTC elements at their school.

“This is a big deal because schools like Jefferson-Morgan don’t necessarily have JROTC,” he said. “I wish I had it. I needed direction.”

In the future, McGrath said he would love to see a countywide JROTC program.

Superintendent Joseph Orr said the collaboration has been about three years in the making. Orr said he was familiar with the program at other districts and saw the value it would bring to his students. Watching them engaged in Tuesday’s presentation and asking questions only strengthened that belief.

Orr said he reached out to other IU1 districts, and Albert Gallatin was willing to try a partnership. The plan is to structure the courses J-M students would need at the end of the school day and have them back before dismissal, similar to CTC students.

Credits and how the courses will fit into graduation requirements still need to be worked out. Orr said from the 50 that initially showed interest in the program, he anticipates about half will participate in a tour and just under that will enroll next year.

But since the student interest is there, and Robinson, McGrath and other staff are willing to participate, why wouldn’t the district try, Orr said. Cooperation between districts is common for athletic programs, and Orr doesn’t see why that couldn’t be the case for academic offerings.

“Little schools, we have to share,” he said.

Orr said he believes a program like JROTC might be even more important to students in a smaller district, that they might benefit more than a student at a large school with many extracurricular activities. Albert Gallatin, Orr said, also sees the value in the partnership.

“JROTC creates opportunities. You can put as much as you want into it,” Sodowsky said.