Oak Ridge High School will begin offering a Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, program in the 2017-2018 school year.
ORHS has been trying to start a Junior ROTC program since 2014. It’s expected to lead to more students attaining the seventh key in the school system’s Seven Keys to College and Career Reediness. (The seventh key says all students will participate in dual enrollment, advanced placement coursework, industry certification, or military preparation by graduation.)
The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation and CNS—the contractor that operates and manages the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas—have donated $15,000 to help with start-up costs of the Navy JROTC. An announcement of that $15,000 donation called the Navy Junior ROTC program the Naval National Defense Cadet Corp program.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education has approved the academic programs and the courses to “make this vision become a reality,” according to an informational item included in the agenda for the school board meeting on Monday, January 23.
“We have many students interested in the program from our current student body, and we will be promoting the program through visits to our middle schools,” the agenda said. “We have worked to generate a job description through Human Resources and will be positing the position on the district website as well as the Navy website. It is the recommendation of Mr. Merv Dial, regional JROTC director, to post the position as soon as possible so we can have the largest pool of applicants. The Navy has requested we get this position posted in January despite the contract start date not being until July 1, 2017. As we all know, this position is a part of the (Fiscal Year 2018) budget cycle, but we wanted to inform you quickly to our plans to get the position staffed.”
The hiring of the new instructor quickly will allow for the process of inventory acquisition to begin prior to the end of the current school year, officials said.
Oak Ridge High School plans to work with the instructor who is selected and to collaborate with other Navy JROTC programs to identify the essential inventory necessary to use the $15,000 gift.
“Again, ORHS is extremely appreciative of the Board of Education, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, CNS, and the community for making this program become a reality,” the agenda said.
The Monday meeting of the Oak Ridge Board of Education starts at 6 p.m. January 23 in the School Administration Building on New York Avenue.
See the informational agenda item here: VIII_A_JROTC_0.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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