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Carvers Bay enlists ninth grade: Freshmen all put in JROTC
Several readers commented online against this policy, comparing it to Hitler Youth, but here's one response that reflects other reader comments: Leadership, discipline and purpose. Probably something a lot of these kids don't get at home.
Regular PE has been an abysmal failure. Just look at the obesity of the kids. Frankly every public school should fire every physical education teacher and hire retired Army and Marine drill instructors.
By Gina Vasselli
Welcome to high school. Now drop and give me 50.
The entire freshman class at Carvers Bay High School has been automatically enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, a military-sponsored program that trains high school students in military discipline and concepts. Principal Richard Neal, a Navy veteran, said the school's Marine Corps JROTC class is fulfilling the student's physical education requirement and is part of the school's Ninth Grade Academy.
But Charles Holloway, the parent of a freshman student at Carvers Bay, said he did not want his son in that program and when he asked that his son be taken out, his son was put in a class by himself.Holloway said he feels his son was being punished for not wanting to take part in that class.
The freshman class at Carvers Bay High School has been enrolled in a Junior ROTC program.
Principal Richard Neal, a NAVY veteran, said the JROTC class is fulfilling the student's physical education requirement and is part of the school’s Ninth Grade Academy.
But Charles Holloway, the parent of freshman student at Carvers Bay, said he did not want his son in that program and when he asked that his son be taken out, his son was put in a class by himself.
Freshmen at one South Carolina high school find themselves in a Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program this year.
The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports that Carver Bay High principal Richard Neal started the program in the Georgetown County school because students in such programs are more likely to graduate.
South Carolina high school students must take one credit of physical education and ROTC can fill the requirement.
College, military and going directly into the work force remain popular options for students graduating from high school, but area guidance counselors say they are noticing a slight rise in the number choosing two-year schools.
Counselors along the Grand Strand say the reasons for the increase include job training requirements, scholarship opportunities and students wanting to stay closer to home or to save money.
Full-time enrollment at community colleges nationwide increased by 24.1 percent from the fall of 2007 to the fall of 2009, according to a December 2009 study by the American Association of Community Colleges.
Seventeen-year-old Bryan Aguilar did not want to be a chubby Marine. But when he started high school a few years back, it was a real possibility.
During his sophomore year at West Ashley High School, Aguilar weighed nearly 200 pounds. That's when he decided to fight the fat. By running, lifting weights and changing his diet, Aguilar morphed into a lean-and-mean ROTC machine. He headed to boot camp this summer after graduation.
He's also the exception among kids in South Carolina.
By the time some Apex High School students landed internships at a Cary, N.C., computer company, they had soaked up resume tips and practiced job interviews.
They'd been trained in the school's Academy of Information Technology, where students learn programming and computer applications. And they knew how to integrate technology into regular courses, such as biology, by creating websites, video and PowerPoint presentations.
Only some of the academy's 285 students will choose careers in technology, but nearly all will go to a two- or four-year college, said Julie Oster, director of the academy, a "school within a school" at Apex High.
Holloway said the JROTC class simply showed up on his son's schedule in place of gym class and he did not receive any information about the class or how to get his son out of it.
"What happened to our freedom of choice?" Holloway said. "I wanted nothing to do with anything related to the military."
According to the South Carolina Department of Education, high school students must take at least one credit of physical education in order to graduate. ROTC can also fill that requirement.
Neal said he initiated the program because studies show that students in leadership programs are more likely to stay in school and graduate. He said so far the program has had an "extremely high positive response," but "any parent who did not want their son or daughter [to participate] has the opportunity to participate in other elective classes."
Neal said letters and fliers about Ninth Grade Academy were sent to parents. The class is an elective and students had the option to select other programs as well, he said, but noted that the ninth grade class was "enrolled" in the program.
"We accepted all of the freshman class into our program," said Master Sgt. Joe Epps, one of the instructors of the ROTC program at Carvers Bay. "What used to be the PE element ... we have taken that over."
Georgetown County Superintendent Randy Dozier said freshmen are not required to take part in the JROTC class.
"We're not going to draft people into ROTC if they don't want to be in there," Dozier said. "They certainly can opt out."
Holloway said he is concerned that other parents do not know their child is in this program. He said that other students are "going to my son, saying 'how did you get out of it?'"
"No one else knows because no one else is in that second class with my son," he said. "This was not transparent."
— By Gina Vasselli
The SunNews.com
2010-08-23
http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/08/22/1649170/carvers-bay-enlists-ninth-grade.html#ixzz0xWBcqnmg
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