There are a multitude of electives students have the opportunity to participate in during their time at OHS. With the variety of electives, there is sure to be something for everyone, but there is one that especially calls out to those with a passion for serving: ROTC.
ROTC allows students of all kinds to take their talents and use them to help others. While discipline is a strong factor in ROTC, the program also emphasizes character development, community service, and personal growth.
“Most people, when you mention ROTC, they think it’s so disciplinary and not fun at all, but it is really fun, it will change your life,” said Vic Lopez, freshman.
ROTC is different from other electives with just one jurisdiction. The elective allows students to engage in diverse learning experiences that build leadership, discipline, and teamwork.
“A couple of days a week, we will teach them academics, maybe it’s leadership or marching, and one day, maybe two days a week, I’ll teach aerospace. This year, I’m teaching survival, which is pretty cool, but then there’s other years I’ll teach how airplanes work and aerospace or aviation history. Then, we have a day where the kids wear the uniform, and we have a PT day or a fitness day,” said Vaughan Whited, Senior Aerospace Science Instructor.
Along with the many activities that students partake in throughout the school day, there are also opportunities to expand their knowledge through exciting hands-on learning activities.
“I might take them to play paintball, I might take them out to the airport, and they get to go fly. I do RC planes on Thursdays after school. I take them to base tours, I take them down to Hilo Bend to watch airplanes flying and shoot stuff up. I’m planning to take some of them flying here in a couple weeks; we have air rifle matches. It’s a long list,” Whited said.
The close-knit environment created through the many hours these students spend together encourages personal growth and helps individuals make positive changes in their lives.
“The paycheck for me is when I see cadets or students either really turn their life around or make great decisions and become very successful,” Whited said. “I’ve had kids that are [in], really bad situations, or bad things happening in a world, and because of opportunities we give them a life experience and things that we’re involved with, they’ve actually turned and they start on a good track.”
The main goal of the class is to cultivate responsible citizens who are committed to serving and improving their communities.
“We do a lot of community service. Every week, we do at least a couple hours of community service… The most frequent one that we do is stadium cleanups after football games, and we go around and help cleaning up stuff,” said David Hernandez, sophomore.
Participating in community service allows cadets to make a difference in their communities while spreading positivity.
“Every time we go out and do stuff for people, it always puts a smile on [their] faces, whether they’re on the older side, they’re veterans, or they’re young kids, it always manages to make them happy,” said Alex Maksa, junior.
ROTC not only allows students to give back to their communities, but to themselves as well.
“If you’re looking for something that really boosts your positivity, something that gets you active and working out a little bit, while becoming a leader [and] somebody who can have that positive moral compass, and you’re looking to better and help your community, I definitely suggest coming through the program,” said Braden Terry, senior.
While many within ROTC praise the program for the aid it provides for the future, there are many stereotypes designated to the program and those in participation.
“Don’t discount [the program], because of what you may hear. I know across the campus, people might say, ‘Oh, those are the kids who wear the uniform’ or they might think, ‘I don’t know if I want to be a part of that.’ Check it out, talk to some people, and if you’re in high school, you gotta be here anyway, why not do some fun things?” Whited said.
ROTC welcomes all people who want to find a place where they belong. With the variety of people that choose to spend their time together, ROTC becomes more than just a class, but a family.
“We are willing to take cadets or students from all kinds. It doesn’t matter if you’re short, tall, fat, skinny, smart, not smart, whether you’re athletic you’re not athletic. This becomes a melting pot. They learn to have each other’s back, and we become this close-knit family,” Whited said.
