At the close of the 3rd quarter, many courses at Central Catholic distributed projects, tests, and assignments that would play a big role in quarterly grades. Our JROTC program did exactly this, but not the kind of test you would find in any other classes. This past week, the Cadet Challenge was held for all members in the JROTC program at every grade level. From endurance tests, to speed and flexibility tests, our cadets displayed the grit and determination they have been practicing all year. 

The Cadet Challenge is an event that takes place every year that assesses the physical fitness of our cadets. The assessment consists of a push-up challenge, a V-sit reach, Curl-Ups, shuttle runs, and concludes with a timed mile race. Everyday this past week, our cadets gathered during their JROTC class periods on Bob Benson ‘66 stadium to accomplish these tasks. When talking to senior cadet Raymond Reyes about his last year doing the challenge he told me, “You know every time you do something it gets a little bit easier so by my senior year it was pretty easy, but I was really impressed with how well these freshmen did with their first year of the challenge”.

It is important to note that the JROTC course counts as a PE credit for our Central students. Along with having PT every week, this challenge plays a major role in actually testing the physical abilities of the cadets in our JROTC program. Army Instructor MSG Robles was pleased with the challenge this year, stating, “It was really cool to see multiple freshmen receive the presidential (highest ranked) award, as well as an overall 97% completion rate”. Accomplishments and statistics such as that prove the hard work of our cadets. 

Getting to talk to cadets of all grade levels about the challenge gave me the inside scoop on how it really went. Senior Andres Idar had some jokes saying, “Well I had a really big breakfast the day of the one mile relay so that didn’t help my scores at all”. Junior Nathan Martin was satisfied with the challenge saying, “My scores were a lot better than my sophomore year scores so that’s something I’m pretty proud of”. These cadets, along with the rest of the program, ensured the success of the challenge, and overall it appears that they succeeded.