rapidfire
Retiree Spotlight C
ol. Robert Hester, USA-Ret., is the director of Junior ROTC (JROTC) and Leadership for Wich- ita, Kan., public schools. In 1997, he start- ed a leadership program for middle school students, using JROTC’s structure to teach civics lessons. Army offi cials now are studying the program to see if it could be a model for others nationwide. JROTC is a program for high school students. What led you to develop a program for middle school students? Shortly after I came to work in Wichita, I visited the director of Army instruction in Tulsa, Okla., who had just started a JROTC-plus program for middle school students. I briefed our middle school principals, and several of them traveled to Tulsa to learn more. The next year, four leadership programs were started in Wichita. Did you face any resistance when you started? Yes, some people believed we were bringing the military into middle
schools, but the superintendent and board of edu- cation held their position. After a short time, all opposition disappeared. How many leadership programs are in Wichita? We have 12 programs now. Do other JROTC-type programs exist in U.S. middle schools? Yes, there are pro- grams in several other cities and states. What makes your leadership program unique? Of the eighth-grade students who were in the 2004 program, 80 percent graduated from high school last year, compared with a 64-percent graduation rate for those who were not in the program. What’s the goal of the program? We make our cadets better citizens. Last year, middle school cadets performed more than 13,000 hours of community service. We also teach them life skills and how to set goals, which prepares them for life after high school.
The Army might fund a pilot pro- gram. Will Wichita’s leadership pro- gram receive funding? No decisions have been made. The Army is eyeing school districts with very low graduation rates. Wichita’s graduation rate may be too high — which is good!
— Kris Ann Hegle Attention! Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.
VIDEO GAME Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction (Ubisoft Montreal, 2010) Sam Fisher is a warfare vet- eran of the CIA and Navy SEALs who has become a renegade agent. In this co-op game, enter
his dangerous world of justice and revenge.
BOOK Finding My Way: A Teen’s Guide to Living with a Parent Who Has Experienced Trauma (Seeds of Hope Books, 2007) Written by
2 6 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R J U LY 2 0 1 0
a clinical psychologist, this book and workbook explains PTSD and intro- duces healthy coping skills for teens with a parent experiencing PTSD.
GRAPHIC NOVEL Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965
(DC Com- ics, 2010) Author and artist Joe
Kubert tells the tale
of Special Forces Detach- ment A-341, 5th Special Forces Group and their
deadly Vietnam mission. MO PHOTO: LINDA GREGORY
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