Three student cadets from the St. Cloud High School Army Junior ROTC program took four out of the six top awards at the Central Florida JROTC Cadet Leadership Camp (JCLC), which carried the callsign Camp Panther.
The event took place at Boy Scout Reservation Camp Flaming Arrow in Lake Wales over the summer. The annual JCLC hosted 23 Junior ROTC high school units from Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties, plus a few outliers from Hillsborough and more rural counties south. Over 450 cadets, divided into four companies, competed in a number of physical events and other challenges. The JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge (JCLC) is billed as a mentally and physically demanding summer camp.
However, “challenging” might not be a strong enough description. Some of the events are taken right from U.S. Navy SEAL training. Cadets described how they had to paddle a rubber boat out on a lake, get into the water, capsize and then right the boat, get back in and return to shore.
“Then we had to roll in the sand, called ‘making sugar cookies’ and do calisthenics for a while,” said Cadet Richie Nichol.
Cadets also learned and practiced rope repelling from a tall wooden tower. The rubber boats and repelling exercises were examples of several individual and team challenges the cadets faced.
“The purpose of the camp is for cadets to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-world leadership team challenges,” said Army Lt. Colonel (Retired) Thomas Donnelly, Senior Army Instructor at St. Cloud High School. The U.S. Army sponsors the all-expense-paid camp.
The award-winning cadets are:Cadet Sgt. Major Diana Santiago — Distinguished Graduate and Leadership; Cadet Maj. Richie Nichol — Leadership and member of the Honor Company; Cadet 2nd Lt. Andrea Rodriguez — Leadership; Cadet Maj. Madeline Perry received a Safety Award for aggressive monitoring of high-risk events and coordinating First Aid teams, training, and resources.
“I was impressed, but not surprised that our cadets would set the example and excel in an arduous leadership and training environment,” said Col. Donnelly.
Outstanding achievement is nothing new for the St. Cloud unit, having been named Honor Unit with Distinction for 2020-21, along with units at Harmony High and Liberty High.
SCHS Assistant Principal Robert Dombo, emphasized how the St. Cloud cadets were one of the “pillars of the school’s spirit and activities, from providing a color guard at school events to excelling at community service, and setting a motivating example to their fellow students.”
Each of the award winning cadets is looking at college, and perhaps continuing in the Reserve Officer Training Program after graduation, with two mentioning nursing training in their future plans.
