May 2, 2025
Driving by Prince George High School commonly results in a quiet trek past the campus, but on Friday, May 2, 2025, the cheers of hundreds of the school's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) cadets and leaders filled the air as the program hosted its annual Organizational Day end-of-year celebration.
SEE MORE PHOTOS: PGCPS on Flickr
Mirroring similar programs hosted by the U.S. Army, Organizational Day serves as an opportunity for cadets across the first and second semesters of the school year to spend the day together engaged in collaborative and, at times, competitive activities. As the days tick down toward the end of the 2024-25 School Year, JROTC instructors LTC Jason Pape, First Sgt. Clayton Plumley, and Sgt. Major Kevin Artis joined their cadets behind the high school for a diverse selection of events, ranging from kickball, to relay races, to a squad drill competition and knockout event. While the trio serves as commanding leaders of the school's JROTC program, they focus on empowering students to be leaders in their own right through events like Organizational Day.
"I believe that being truly a cadet-led organization is what sets our program apart from most programs. We focus on empowering and enabling them to be in charge," LTC Pape explained. "We have worked over the years to build the structure that develops them over the course of three to four years to be able to assume those leadership positions. Our cadet leaders really are in charge of these events, and our instructors and I are here to help them out, give them advice, and help them solve problems they may not be able to solve."
Each year, hundreds of students participate in the high school's JROTC program, participating in a variety of programs within this pathway of the school's career and technical education offerings. Among the courses is a focused leadership development program, where students are given skills to prepare them for whatever their future may hold beyond high school, be it military service, higher education, or going directly into the workforce.
"While there is classwork and a curriculum, our ultimate goal is to build better citizens, whether they choose to serve in the military or not, once they graduate high school," LTC Pape shared. "As part of that, it's the development of character and values, as well as all of the other components when you think about leadership, including collaboration, critical thinking, and much more."
Many of the JROTC's leadership opportunities for cadets come through events like Organizational Day, which saw nearly two dozen leaders overseeing the operation of the event, guiding their counterparts through the activities, and helping with the logistics of the event. The JROTC has been instrumental in supporting other events, including the recent military ball held at Fort Gregg-Adams in April, the upcoming yearly awards ceremony on Wednesday, May 6, 2025, and graduation on Friday, May 30, 2025.
"When it comes to the military ball, there are a number of traditional things that happen as part of that, which the cadets help plan and execute," LTC Pape remarked. "Next, they will help prepare for our annual awards ceremony, where we bring in all kinds of people from different organizations, including Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the United States Daughters of 1812, among others. We then present awards to our top cadets on behalf of those organizations."
After these events, their attention turns to graduation at the end of May. At this year's ceremony, the JROTC color guard will continue their essential role of presenting flags in the opening moments of the commencement ceremony, and it's expected cadets will serve as ushers for the event. Additionally, and just as meaningful for the high school's JROTC program, they want to give their graduating seniors that heartfelt send-off as they prepare to go out into the world. Among their senior contingent of cadets, Akaela Quarles and Trinitee Green reflected on their time in the program fondly as graduation approached.
"It has been quite the journey for me. I learned so much during my time here and gained a lot of connections," Quarles, who plans to join the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets after graduating, shared. "I was able to make friends who were of high value and who were able to push me when times got tough. I learned about myself in the sense that I was able to manage my time better, learn how to deal with certain situations, and most of all, I learned how to be resilient thanks to the JROTC."
"JROTC taught me so many life skills," Green, who is slated to attend Old Dominion University in the fall to study civil engineering, remarked. "I learned how to do taxes thanks to JROTC; I learned how to be calm in complex situations, and a lot more. Like today, overseeing Organization Day is a high-stress situation, but you see a lot of our veteran leading cadets are not very stressed out at all. We are all just having fun out here."
During breaks from leading cadets throughout Organizational Day, even taking part in some of the competitive games, like tug-of-war, they both reflected on those intangible things the JROTC program provided them and could offer students who may be interested in the program.
"A lot of people think that JROTC is something military kids or people who are planning to join the military do, and that's a common misconception," Quarles shared. "Our JROTC is about leadership where you're learning so much beyond the military. We're looking to build our cadets as far as their leadership skills, so if you want to come in and learn about yourself and how to be a good leader in every aspect of life, this is the program for you."
"People think, within the organization, it's about recruiting people to the military," Green remarked. "I am not going into the military, but I think this program helps people who may be timid and have social anxiety have the opportunity to come out of their shell and grow as a person, making lifelong friends and making new memories."
Standing watch over the event and hundreds of students, LTC Pape said that when he first retired from the U.S. Army, the idea of serving as a JROTC instructor hadn't crossed his mind, but once moving to Virginia and settling down with his family, he decided to give it a chance. Finding his way to Prince George in 2021, he's helped grow the program with support from First Sgt. Plumley and Sgt. Major Artis, the school's administration, and a truly passionate core of passionate students.
SEE MORE PHOTOS: PGCPS on Flickr
"I love seeing the cadets develop," LTC Pape said. "Last year was my fourth year, so this was the first time I got to see kids I taught as freshmen and see where they have grown. Each year is cool, but when you can look back and see those students you have had for four years and see all the great things they have done, that's when it all comes together."