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Mariner JROTC team takes top honors at State

By CJ HADDAD - | Feb 3, 2023

Mariner JROTC cadets help with Hurricane Ian cleanup. PHOTO PROVIDED

The Mariner JROTC team continued to show it is one of the best in the nation, both in a competition setting and in the community.

On Jan. 28, the Mariner High School JROTC Marksmanship team won the 2023 Florida State Air Rifle Championship at Island Coast, earning top honors out of more than 200 high schools in Florida with marksmanship programs. They also placed 8th in the Army Youth Air Rifle National Championship at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Last year, the team turned in a top-10 finish at the Civilian Marksmanship Program Youth National Championship at Camp Perry in Ohio and finished 12th at the Junior Olympics.

The group of 22 high-performing student athletes was led by Major Bryan Williams and his wife, coach Marybeth Williams.

“Our after school, co-curricular teams, such as Marksmanship, reinforce our top classroom priority — teach, coach and mentoring America’s premier character education curriculum to young people,” Major Williams said. “Trophies and awards are the result of our cadets learning the most important lessons — teamwork, sacrifice, commitment and dedication result in a pathway to achieving your goals.”

The Mariner High School JROTC Marksmanship team won the 2023 Florida State Air Rifle Championship at Island Coast, earning top honors out of more than 200 high schools in Florida with marksmanship programs. They also placed 8th in the Army Youth Air Rifle National Championship at Fort Benning, Georgia. PHOTO PROVIDED

Cadets at Mariner are taught skills that translate to student development, such as concentration, self-control, teamwork, focus, and discipline. “Which results in improved study habits, test taking skills, behavior and etiquette, and attendance,” Major Williams said.

Marksmanship can also serve as a pathway to higher education. Scholarships are offered at 32 universities, as well as by the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

“Marksmanship has taught me that sacrifice and commitment is required to succeed and achieve excellence at a high level,” said Cadet Tyler Dennard.

At the National Championships, the cadets were treated to a 90-minute Q&A with five Olympic medalists and the reigning World Champion. While the seminar included discussion about Marksmanship techniques, the conversation was mostly centered on mental preparation and psychology. The Olympic athletes helped young cadets understand the importance of concentration, discipline and commitment to achieve excellence in their lives.

The reigning world champion made a key point to the Cadets that “results do not determine your self-worth.”

“That was one of the biggest takeaways Coach Williams and I took from our time at the National Championships,” Major Williams said. “While our team certainly had set result-oriented goals, the tremendous life lessons we gained could not be measured.”

JROTC emphasizes community service as evidenced by the JROTC mission statement “to motivate young people to be better citizens,” Major Williams said.

Cadets at each of the Lee County High schools volunteer thousands of hours of community service each year, and perform color guards, assist veteran organizations, help Habitat for Humanity, serve at soup kitchens and food pantries, and this year, made a significant impact helping the community in the wake of hurricane Ian.

“I’ve learned how much I really love serving my community and helping others by volunteering with JROTC,” said Cadet Trent Olsen. “After Hurricane Ian, many of the cadet leaders collaborated with the instructors to get involved in the community. We helped out neighbors, we did boat rescue and resupply missions to Pine Island and helped clean up our campus when it was safe. It was so rewarding.”

Some cadets self-organized and went door to door in their neighborhoods asking how they could help, while others volunteered with instructors to support Samaritan’s Purse and also volunteered their weekends to help clean up the Mariner campus, as did other schools across the county. Before returning to school, more than 50 Mariner JROTC cadets had participated in a dozen organized relief events.

Cadets at Mariner continue to have a heart for the community following Ian. The student leadership decided to focus their annual service-learning project on food insecurity and Lee County.

“Many of us had friends who were displaced after the storm,” said JROTC Brigade Commander Col. Tenille Perez. “Some of them are really struggling, so it just makes sense to keep focusing JROTC’s community service on the immediate needs ‘right here in our backyard’ as Major (Williams) says.”

Cadets also learn about diversity in JROTC, and recently, Mariner Leadership Academy continued a tradition of inclusion activities with special need students during a two-day “Triton-a-thon” event. Cadets integrated with their special need peers with activities such as a bounce house obstacle course, outdoor bowling, Hula Hoops and a giant Jenga.

Marksmanship is one of many JROTC co-curricular after school activities. All programs are designed to reinforce and apply leadership and character lessons learned in the classroom. Leadership Academy is a four-year elective program with lessons about leadership, ethics, etiquette, health and nutrition, civics, financial planning, and preparation for life after high school.

Mariner Leadership Academy’s deck of instructors is stacked with teacher accolades, including: 2016 Golden Apple recipient First Sergeant (retired) Steve Jaramillo, 2021 Golden Apple recipient Major (retired) Bryan Williams, and 2022 Army JROTC Instructor of the Year Sergeant Major (retired) Kim Williams.

“We pride ourselves in being world-class teachers with a focus on student engagement,” Major Williams said.

–Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj