Cape High JROTC celebrates Make a Difference Day all year
For JROTC students at Cape Henlopen High School, community service opportunities start the moment the school bell rings in September.
Make a Difference Day is celebrated annually on the fourth Saturday of October, on Oct. 28 this year. However, JROTC students are trained to learn how to make a difference in their community in several ways throughout their school career.
While many high school students have a reputation of being on their phones all the time, sleeping late on Saturday mornings, and not really being involved in things that don’t directly benefit themselves, the JROTC cadets turn that teenager stereotype on its head.
While some students see community service hours as either a punishment or something to write on a college application, there is a culture shift in the JROTC cadet. By showing up for others, they build skills such as leadership, teamwork, event organization, clear communication, punctuality and reliability.
“Students coming to community service on a weekend morning or a day off of school shows how much they want to be there,” said Sgt. Richard Hurt. “The only way to truly get the kids to come out is to lead by example. It starts with the seniors on down.”
An average of 20 to 30 JROTC cadets will show up, sometimes very early on a Saturday morning, to events where some organizers praise them for being the only reliable crew of volunteers they have.
“Because community service is one of our primary lines of effort for developing the leaders of tomorrow, it’s got to be about others and giving back to those who may not be as fortunate as others,” said Col. Edward Dowgin.
Dowgin details how the program focuses on rewarding cadets who volunteer with leadership roles in the classroom. Cadets also build a robust roster of volunteer hours for college applications, and make great impressions on their part-time employers.
But the best reward is that the cadets genuinely enjoy being involved. They have fun with their friends, and get to meet community members who organize these local activities. Cadets see first-hand why it takes each one of them to make their community a better place.
Here are some of the good works cadets have been and will be doing this fall. Their jobs range from setting up tables and chairs, working water points, providing color guard, assisting organizers with various tasks as well as helping break down and cleanup.
Sept. 16: American Legion Post 28 car show; benefits and proceeds go to disabled veterans
Sept. 30: Walk to End Alzheimer's
Oct. 7: Boardwalk Buddy Walk
Oct. 13: Set up for Walk for Autism at Hudson Field
Oct. 14: 5K for Children’s Beach House, Autism Delaware’s Walk for Autism
Oct. 22: Easterseals’ Walk With Me Delmarva at Baywood Greens in Long Neck
Oct. 28: Sea Witch Festival in Rehoboth Beach
Nov. 11: Veterans’ Day with Post 7447 at the Rehoboth Bandstand, with Post 17 at Lewes Beach for Tribute to the Veterans, with Flags for Heroes at Cape Henlopen High School. If time permits, presentation of colors at Meineke Car Care in Lewes.
Dec. 2: 16th Seashore Marathon & Half Marathon in Rehoboth Beach
Dec. 16: National Wreaths Across America Day at Epworth Cemetery in Rehoboth.
Cadets involved with volunteer community service activities are Gabriel Warren Bagnatori, Remi Bailey, Mitchell Bohmer, Addison Bowman, Matthew Castro-Zapata, Ava Collins, Gianna Decker, Brent Dieterle, Cora Emory, Danielle Fuentes-Lopez, Christian Fuscellaro, Alonso Gonzalez, Dilan Gonzalez, William Green-Saco, Vladyslav Holembioskyi, Cole Huxtable, Ryan Lang, Madison Layfield, Joseph Lingafelt, Mara Lobley, Emmanuel Majjul, Ryan Miller, Kyle Nantz, Jacob Panyko, Layla Parks, Michael Pond, Ady Ramirez, Jazmine Ramos-Trejo, Miguel Robledo-Mendez, Christopher Robledo-Mendez, Christopher Robledo-Trujillo, Annemarie Rodriguez, Lucas Santini, Wesley Sartain, Abbey Schaeffer, Cianna Steer, Rylee Tipton, Ryder Vanhorn, Todd Warwick and Declan West.
