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About

The mission of the JROTC is to motivate young people to be better citizens. Students will receive instruction in Leadership Theory and Application, Foundations for Success, Wellness, Fitness and First Aid, Geography and Earth Science, Citizenship, and American History, and Firearm Safety and Rifle Marksmanship. Students are required to wear a uniform once a week. JROTC provides students with opportunities to be members of competitive drill and rifle teams and to achieve success in various levels of leadership positions within the program. Completion of one semester fulfills a semester of PE requirements. JROTC Cadets are high school students. they are not trained as soldiers nor do they incur any military obligation by participating in JROTC.

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Our instructors are retired United States Army Veterans, each with an average of more than 20 years of military experience. We are experienced educators, we are NOT military recruiters.


JROTC Extracurriculars/Teams

The JROTC Department at TJ sponsors the following additional activities:

  • Drill Teams- Drill team (drill with drill rifles) and Honor Platoon (drills without drill rifles) compete in regulation and student-developed drill routines. Restricted to JROTC students. Competitions include city, state and multi-state regional starting in February and ending in April. Practices are year-round.

  • Color Guard- Team that presents that National, State and School flags at school and community functions. Restricted to JROTC students. Team also competes in city, state and multi-state regional competitions. Practices and events are year-round.

  • Raiders Team: Adventure training team. More to come!

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History of JROTC

The United States Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) came into being with the passage of the National Defense Act of 1916. Under the provisions of the Act, high schools were authorized the loan of federal military equipment and the assignment of active duty military personnel as instructors. In 1964, the Vitalization Act opened JROTC up to the other services and replaced most of the active duty instructors with retirees who worked for and were cost shared by the schools.

 

Title 10 of the U.S. Code declares that "the purpose of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is to instill in students in United States secondary educational institutions the value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment."

 

The JROTC Program has changed greatly over the years. Once looked upon primarily as a source of enlisted recruits and officer candidates, it became a citizenship program devoted to the moral, physical and educational uplift of American youth. Although the program retained its military structure and the resultant ability to infuse in its student cadets a sense of discipline and order, it shed most of its early military content.

 

The study of ethics, citizenship, communications, leadership, life skills and other subjects designed to prepare young citizens to take their place in adult society, evolved as the core of the program. More recently, an improved student centered curriculum focusing on character building and civic responsibility is being presented in every JROTC classroom.

 

JROTC is a continuing success story. From a modest beginning of 6 units in 1916, JROTC has expanded to 1,645 schools today and to every state in the nation, along with American schools overseas. Cadet enrollment has grown to 281,000 cadets with 4,000 professional instructors in the classrooms. Comprised solely of active duty Army retirees, the JROTC instructors serve as mentors developing the outstanding young citizens of our country.

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About Thomas Jefferson High School

Thomas Jefferson High School is a located in the Southmoor Park neighborhood, on the southeast side of Denver, Colorado. The campus was constructed in the 1960s and JROTC has been a part of the school's history ever since. You may know some of our alumni such as Daniel Graham, Derrick Martin, and Michael Winslow. 

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