High schoolers compete in Chicago’s Drill Championships

Feb. 22 -- Today's Citywide Individual Drill Championship focuses attention on Chicago's J-ROTC program and its record developing students and encouraging college enrollment.

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The morning sun slants through an open door, glinting off patent leather shoes that shine as brightly as the trophies that wait in the corner. An about-face command breaks the silence and 15-year-old Diamond Moss pivots his gangly frame to face the starched judging panel at the Phoenix Military Academy on Chicago's West Side.

Moss represents Harper High School in Englewood in the junior division of the Citywide Individual Drill Championships, and though his unadorned shoulders testify to his rank as a first-year cadet, his syncopated steps and rifle moves reveal a disciplined young man of considerable discipline. Officials say instilling discipline and respect is key to the success of the cadets in the CPS system.

ROTC enrollment has increased to include almost 10,000 cadets in the CPS system, according to Director of Military Instruction Kim Harrell. "Discipline and structure are the key to how we prepare our young cadets," she said. "Our goal is to teach them to be better citizens and enhance their post-secondary options."

Sean Tate, a third-year cadet at South Shore Leadership High School, said he chose ROTC for precisely these reasons. Although he grins while describing his "previous military experience" as time spent playing army-themed video games and flight simulators, Tate found his way to ROTC of his own initiative, according to the 17-year-old South Side native.

"I was planning on going to Kenwood High School," he said, "but one day I was walking past the school and I saw a giant fight breaking out right in front of the school and I kinda said no way!" Tate said he heard South Side High offered a strong ROTC program, and decided to join to "prepare for my future."

Nearly one in five Kenwood High School students drops out, according to CPS numbers, and last year the Consortium on Chicago School Research reported that only about 30 percent students who graduate CPS enroll in four-year colleges.

ROTC students graduate at very high rates, according to Harrell, who said that 71 percent of last year's seniors went on to post-secondary education.

Tate estimated that the program had drastically changed his life. "Besides, it's not typical that at every high school you get to walk around in a green cucumber uniform," he laughed.

Cadet Chris Polk (Simeon High School) won first place today; Cadet Nick Gutierrez (Taft High School) won second place and Cadet Erman Jefferson (Corliss High School) took third place.