Litwalk's Eagle's Project
The Garden City Gardening Club paired up with the High School’s AFJROTC to clear out a plot to grow various types of vegetables such as peppers, squash, cucumbers, and much more, for senior citizens. This was also an opportunity for Cadet Litwalk to earn his Eagle Badge. Here are the before and after pictures of the corps commitment.
Young Eagles
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On Saturday, April 21 2018, Young Eagles took place at Mettetal airport in Canton, MI. 14 young cadets ages 8-17 enjoyed the privilege of a free plane ride. All the cadets who participated said thy loved the plane ride and would certainly come back again. "That was the coolest thing ever" were the words of most cadets. Their eyes wide with wonder after they each got off their planes was not a sight to miss. Everyone that participated were respectful and very well-mannered. The young cadets had a great time and the whole event was a success.
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2019 End of the Year Picnic
To celebrate this successful year for the unit as well as our graduating seniors, we hosted an end of the year picnic party for all cadets. MSgt Ragnone grilled up some hamburgers and hot dogs to feed hungry cadets and guests. Several teachers joined the party to grab a bite and socialize, including Mr. Hett, Mr. Waronek and Brian the custodian joined as well. Cadets could be found playing soccer, nine square or socializing among the others. The seniors were honored with water balloons raining down on them. In the end, we had to speed up the ballooning so we dumped the buckets of water on them. Cadets Gideon, Billings, Jameson, and Cochran were very pleased to be drenched. Cadet Heffner said, “The food was great and I had a nice time with my friends and ROTC family”. The clean up went smoothly, and we’ll miss the graduating Cadets. Hopefully the memories they have made and skills they’ve earned in the program lasts long beyond graduation, to help them with their life ahead of them
Award's Banquet 2019
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MI-861 Cadets were ecstatic to finally show their family members all the hard work they put into the 2018-2019 AFJROTC program. Our annual awards banquet is a celebration of strong characteristics of citizenship, leadership, and outstanding performance from the cadets.
The night began with a potluck in the cafeteria. Each flight was required to bring in certain categories of foods: finger food, |
salads, and deserts. The main dish included multiple foot long subs from Kroger. “These leftovers are going to be well enjoyed tomorrow!” Said Cadet Oski. After everyone’s stomachs were filled, the family members were instructed to go to the auditorium to view a video put together by Cadet Thiede showing unit events throughout the year.
Once the cadets filed into the auditorium, the speaking began. Ribbons and National awards were handed out by our many guests: Superintendent Derrick Fisher, High School Principal Sharon Kollar, School Board members, Military Recruiters, and a representative from the American Legion. After a year's worth of enthusiasm and creativity, cadets saw all of their hard work and dedication pay off. The Senior Local Awards were presented later that night followed by five heartwarming speeches sharing their favorite memories in the corp and words of advice. “Don’t let others control your life, and if you fall get right back up again. Prove to people that you can do whatever you set your mind to. Be strong and aim high!” said 4th year Cadet Gideon.
Best of luck to the graduating Seniors from MI-861. Events like these don’t happen overnight, they take many hours of preparation and hard work. Special thanks to: Cadet Heffner, Lt Col Gilmour, MSgt Ragnone, and the many volunteers who made this event possible
Once the cadets filed into the auditorium, the speaking began. Ribbons and National awards were handed out by our many guests: Superintendent Derrick Fisher, High School Principal Sharon Kollar, School Board members, Military Recruiters, and a representative from the American Legion. After a year's worth of enthusiasm and creativity, cadets saw all of their hard work and dedication pay off. The Senior Local Awards were presented later that night followed by five heartwarming speeches sharing their favorite memories in the corp and words of advice. “Don’t let others control your life, and if you fall get right back up again. Prove to people that you can do whatever you set your mind to. Be strong and aim high!” said 4th year Cadet Gideon.
Best of luck to the graduating Seniors from MI-861. Events like these don’t happen overnight, they take many hours of preparation and hard work. Special thanks to: Cadet Heffner, Lt Col Gilmour, MSgt Ragnone, and the many volunteers who made this event possible
Young Eagles 2019
Bright and early cadets traveled out to Mettel Airport in Plymouth-Canton for a once in a lifetime experience, a free airplane ride. There was a slight delay that morning due to unstable flying conditions from winds, so the wonderful workers took out groups to show us the different parts of an airplane. Before every flight they do a check to make sure everything is working fine, safety first! One of the pilots led a discussion on different aspects of flying “an airplane doesn’t just fall out of the sky; it becomes a glider.” They were curious as to why we woke up early and came all the way out there, to which cadet Heffner responded, “The view. This is my fourth time flying and every time it takes my breath away.” At about 9:30am the flights were cleared to take off. Thank you to all those who were able to make the experience worthwhile, even when we were waiting and anxious-excited to fly.
Talent Show Ushers
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Garden City High School proudly showed off its students marvelous abilities in the annual talent show on April 23rd. Parents and guests were welcomed by MI-861 Cadets who were all excited to be there and support those involved. Most performers opted to sing which was very entertaining for everyone to listen to. Cadet Wood said, “From super loud guitar playing to sick beats from Mr. Kreiner, I’m so glad I didn’t miss this event.” A special thanks to all those who made the show possible and cadets who ushered and a great job to everyone performing
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Pep Assembly
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AFJROTC Cadets proudly presented the colors to kick start the Spring Sports Pep Assembly. Color Guard showed the school what an honor it is to be in AFJROTC and the responsibilities that comes with it. Cadet Oski shared, “I’ve been on Color Guard since my freshman year and I am still so proud to be a part of each event.” Great day to show some school and ROTC pride.
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Adopt-A-Highway
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During the day of April 11th, our unit held our event biannual Adopt-A-Highway. AFJROTC picked up trash along a two miles on Ford road between Inkster and Merriman road. This event is a great way for cadets to give back to the community by picking up the trash that litters our streets. My team of eight said that they enjoyed the event and would definitely do it again if they had the chance to. A quote we have from Cadet Wood is “This event was definitely really fun and I enjoyed it.”
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MR.GC
Mr. GC was a night to not forget. Cadets welcomed students, family members, and teachers to enjoy this strange performance. The contestants had to perform an opening choreographed dance routine, model dress wear, casual wear, and beachwear, and show off a talent of theirs. While some opted to sing or dance, there were a special few who battled with lightsabers and waxed their legs and armpits. Cadet Munoz laughed, “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen! I should usher more often.” Thank you to the cadets who attended and to everyone who made the night possible. Congratulations to those who won an award and selected for Prom court.
Donut Party
In completion of the unit-wide community service goal, the unit put on a Donut Party. The unit bought seven dozen donuts to feed the large crowd, and Cadets were invited to stay as long as they pleased. Everyone went home happy after a nice sugary snack. The Event was short and sweet
Play Ushers
Parents, students, and teachers were all excited to see Garden City’s High School production of the musical Chicago. Cadets from AFJROTC welcomed everyone into the auditorium and told them to enjoy the show. Each night the theater department delivered an astounding performance and made some cadets keep coming back for more. Cadet Wood laughed, “I went every night to see the play and it just kept getting better, great show and community service is a win-win.” Great job to everyone in the musical and a special thanks to the cadets who helped usher.
Goodbye Litter
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Everyone put on gloves and headed out the side door to go pick up trash. We were split up into two groups and we went around the school. Anything and everything was picked up that was on the property we were cleaning. Both of the groups met up at the dumpsters on the other side of the school. There we took a few photos together. We all headed back to the classroom where everyone put their gloves on the table and headed home.
“I like working with friends and cleaning up the school, it feels like we are doing a difference and that is what I love about AFJROTC,” said Cadet Swanson. |
Project Linus
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Cadets had plenty of fun during the joint school clubs Project Linus. The National Honor Society, Japanese club, DECA, and AFJROTC all partnered up to make blankets for those in need. No experience was necessary and all the cadets walked away smiling.
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American Legion
American Legion was so kind to welcome our unit to participate in their St. Patrick day’s part. Cadets started the day chopping up veggies and the corned beef for serving later in the day. For the rest of the day cadets would either serve the cooked food from a buffet like food line, or like Cadets Caswell, Heffner, and Schwarze, serve corned beef sandwiches from the kitchen. They toasted the bread, heat up the meat, and add anything else ordered for the sandwich to serve to those with special orders. Cadet Schwarze admitted, “It was fun to be in the kitchen and get the experience of working with others and trying to restrain yourself from not eating all the delicious food.” Feedback about the sandwiches and cadets hard work was positive. During the event MI-861 was given an opportunity to hold a 50/50 raffle to help raise money towards our other goal of donating $1500 to the athletic department for gym improvements. The event raised a good amount and the winner was Cadet Sherrill’s Grandfather who generously donated his winnings back to JROTC. Cadets finished the event helping with the clean up everything and close down the kitchen while the American Legion staff prepared for the afterparty with a live band. Overall the event went great and the time was well spent serving veterans and their families that came to the event along with being able to help with the cooking, where most cadets enjoyed putting their culinary skills to work. It was great to have that wonderful experience of being able to interact with veterans while doing good for the community. Cadet Sabbagh said, “This is my favorite event of the year. I am definitely going to make sure I come back next year.”
8th Grade Orientation
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Cadets in all of the different uniform combos met at Garden City Middle School for their 8th Grade Orientation. Each cadet was assigned a different uniform combo to increase interests and catch people's eyes. With hopes of persuading younger students to join MI-861, we convinced people to join. With all of the wonderful opportunities and friendships waiting for them at the High School, student and parents were eager to learn more and anticipate the day they can be a part of this family.
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Drone Field Trip
Thursday, February 21, 2019, Cadets from MI-861 eagerly gathered in the hall by flights for attendance. After, Cadet Sherrill lead the march to Excel Drones from the High School. The sidewalks were icy with the brisk February chill in the air. Despite the trip being an ice skate more than a march, we made it there and back without any wipeouts.
Part-owner Alex was the presenter. He taught us a lot about the future and present use of drones. For example, there is a drone that is completely unmanned that can transform to go anywhere. They can also be used for artwork with L.E.Ds on a drone with a little editing. A lot of different career fields use drones to do work like farmers, energy companies, law enforcement, medical field, airline companies, and real estate. Drones can cut the time of a job by about 90%.
After the presentation, Alex demonstrated with a drone that was capable of first-person view (fpv). He passed around the goggles so that everyone could see what it's like. Half of the drones purchased came with fpv cameras and half of them didn't. Alex was nice enough to give the cadets cameras that didn't get them.
“The Excel Drone store field trip gave me a new hobby. They taught us new things about drones and many things that I didn't know they could do such as jobs and being a sport. They can spark an interest in drones or other small RC vehicles.” said cadet Beauchamp.
Part-owner Alex was the presenter. He taught us a lot about the future and present use of drones. For example, there is a drone that is completely unmanned that can transform to go anywhere. They can also be used for artwork with L.E.Ds on a drone with a little editing. A lot of different career fields use drones to do work like farmers, energy companies, law enforcement, medical field, airline companies, and real estate. Drones can cut the time of a job by about 90%.
After the presentation, Alex demonstrated with a drone that was capable of first-person view (fpv). He passed around the goggles so that everyone could see what it's like. Half of the drones purchased came with fpv cameras and half of them didn't. Alex was nice enough to give the cadets cameras that didn't get them.
“The Excel Drone store field trip gave me a new hobby. They taught us new things about drones and many things that I didn't know they could do such as jobs and being a sport. They can spark an interest in drones or other small RC vehicles.” said cadet Beauchamp.
Hot Cocoa Special
Thursday was a busy day for MI-861, after an all day field trip a Hot Cocoa/Game party was waiting. The coffee pot was full, the karaoke machine was ready to go, food was prepared to be eaten, and sign up sheets were taped to desks. Everything came together just in time as the last bell rang. Along with a way for cadets to mingle with others who aren’t in their flight, the party was a recruiting event. We hoped to welcome anyone who was interested in joining. During the event, Cadet Caswell shared, “The games were so much fun, I haven’t played Connect Four in so long!” Different versions of Uno littered the tables as well as, Apples to Apples, Twister, and more while Cadet Sherrill DJed. Everyone ended up getting cookies, chips, and at least two cups of hot cocoa if they wanted. We even had a few teachers stop by and grab some hot cocoa. After the event was over a few cadets stayed to help clean up. It seemed like everyone enjoyed the event.
Guest Speaker
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This Valentine’s Day, MI-861 welcomed Navy Petty Officer Rojas to our classroom to share his life experiences in the Navy and the benefits accompanied in enlisting. He talked about different foods he tried in his travels including, live squirming shrimp, whale meat, raw oysters, hot spicy curry, and duck egg. He said, “There was this one restaurant where you would pick out your fish from a tank and they would cook it there.” It was an interesting way to kick start the day or end it. Hopefully the Cadets on their way to lunch weren’t too
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squeamish. Cadet Dougherty said “The stories he told and how he tied those into lessons he has learned in life, helped to keep it interesting and fun to listen to” and a special thanks to Petty Officer Rojas.
Military Ball 2019
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On 8 February 2019, Garden City’s Air Force Junior ROTC held their annual Military Ball. This year was a bit different than years in the past. We had a POW/MIA remembrance as well as an Old Glory presentation. For the POW/MIA remembrance, Cadet Schwarze spoke about soldiers not being able to come home while five cadets in uniform respectfully pointed to each object on the table that the prisoners of war are associated with. We also had a combination cover from each of the
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branches, allowing every soldier to be represented. For the Old Glory presentation, Cadet Stewart read a script that was to represent the beloved American Flag. We had four cadets in uniform respectfully march in with a huge flag, open the flag, and then carefully fold it back up. Bringing both the POW/MIA remembrance and Old Glory presentation to the Military Ball this year, added a big difference in Military traditions that we hope to continue throughout upcoming years. For the Presentation of Color/National Anthem sung by Cadet Stewart, we had an eight-person Color Guard instead of a usual four person. “It was very cool to get to see so many cadets in uniform presenting the different military branches at the Military Ball”, shared Cadet Heffner.
We would like to congratulate this year’s King Cadet Gideon and Queen Cadet Stewart who both worked very hard to be great cadets that represent our unit. All of the cadets had a lot of fun smiling, laughing, dancing, and just overall hanging out with each other. Cadet Schwarze said, “It’s moments like these that you really see your hard work pay off and you remember how much you love the unit and everyone in it.” The annual Military Ball is a great way for cadets to not only get together and have fun but to also honor those who serve for this country in which we call home.
We will like to thank Cadet Gabbi from the U of M Air Force Detachment, Chief Warrant Officer Evans from the Coast Guard Station in Detroit, and Staff Sergeant Salas for lending us combination covers for the POW table as well as covers for all of the cadets participating in the POW/MIA remembrance, Old Glory presentation, and Color Guard
We would like to congratulate this year’s King Cadet Gideon and Queen Cadet Stewart who both worked very hard to be great cadets that represent our unit. All of the cadets had a lot of fun smiling, laughing, dancing, and just overall hanging out with each other. Cadet Schwarze said, “It’s moments like these that you really see your hard work pay off and you remember how much you love the unit and everyone in it.” The annual Military Ball is a great way for cadets to not only get together and have fun but to also honor those who serve for this country in which we call home.
We will like to thank Cadet Gabbi from the U of M Air Force Detachment, Chief Warrant Officer Evans from the Coast Guard Station in Detroit, and Staff Sergeant Salas for lending us combination covers for the POW table as well as covers for all of the cadets participating in the POW/MIA remembrance, Old Glory presentation, and Color Guard
50/50 Raffle
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During the Garden City High School’s electrifying basketball game, Cadets volunteered to run a 50/50 Raffle. The money rolled in as crowd-goers eagerly took a chance and bought a ticket to participate. They were sold 1 for $1 and 6 for $5. Parents and Student saw the opportunity and took it. Raising about $130, the lucky winner received half of the loot and went home smiling. The money raised by the unit will go towards renovating the gymnasium as we are teaming up with the Athletic Department. Thank you to all who participated and supported the school at the game. Great job GC basketball team, Go Cougars
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Candy Sale 2019
Starting in 2018, the AFJROTC candy sale made it through to 2019. Cadets were offered a chance to sell 60 chocolate bars for $1 each. For each box they sold $5 was taken off of their Military Ball ticket. Jumping at the opportunity, MI-861 raised over $700 for the corps. With more fundraising money coming in we are ever closer to meeting our goal of $1,500. Stay tuned for more ways to help out the corps and our school.
Hockey 4 Heroes
Our Honorable Color Guard had the chance to perform in the opening ceremony of the Hockey for Heroes game. This game is a friendly face-off between Garden City PD and Fire vs the Michigan Warriors hockey team. Our Guard was able to provide an on the ice presentation of the colors that went by with great success. It was great fun for the cadets who were able to do this for our service men and women
Cougar Care Cafe
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Saturday morning, cadets took part in helping give back to the community, yet again. Cougar Care Cafe takes place almost every month throughout the year. Starting 2019 off on the right foot with a great turn out and many happy faces from the cadets. First-year Cadet Leatherberry shared, “I signed up for this not knowing what to expect. It was fun and I would do it again. My favorite part was helping in the kitchen and being a taste tester for the garlic bread.” Not only does the community benefit from the help, but so does everyone involved. Thanks from MI-861.
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Christmas Party 2018
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GAMES! FOOD! PRIZES! FUN! That is a great way to summarize this year's corps Christmas party. Cadet Sherrill was in charge of the event and planned multiple party endeavors to keep everyone engaged and having fun. Cadets were allowed to bring guests to the party to enjoy a candy cane counting contest, Christmas song contest, and the main event, Unwrapping a gift wrapped in multiple layers of saran wrap and wrapping paper. You had to unwrap the gift while wearing cooking mittens before the person next to you rolled two dice
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with the same number(kinda like yahtzee) whomever compleatly unwrapped the gift first got the prize! Along with drinks and snacks, candy canes were given to the winning teams of the Christmas song competition and winner of the candy cane guessing contest. Future Cadet Faith shared, “You’re all crazy but it’s kind of a good crazy. I’m actually kinda excited to join next semester.” Winners of the clean up contest got a pat on the back for being a good Samaritan and a smile on their way out. Merry Christmas from everyone at MI-861!
Needy Family
Needy Family took place on the 15th and 16th of December. This community service provided food and gifts to 120 families this holiday season. The two-day event started early and put Cadets to work. Helpers packaged food and goods to be sent to families in need living in Garden City. This event is an oldie but a goldie. “It is a fun way for cadets to help and give back to the community by helping bring food to those who need it,” Cadet Cochran pronounced. “Everyone in the community was helping out and had a good time,” added Cadet Wood. Overall, everyone who attended had a great time being able to give some help back out to the community.
Lock-in
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On 14 December from 6:00 pm to 1:00 am, MI-861 AFJROTC hosted their annual lock-in and invited guests to join in at Garden City High School. This year had a great turn out and recruited new cadets without even trying. The night started with everyone parading to the cafeteria and joining their assigned group table. “At first, people didn’t want to have groups with others they didn’t know, but at the end of the night they were laughing and playing like siblings”, shared Cadet C.
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Dougherty. The Docs - Micayla and Colton - planned a whole night of entertaining events for everyone to participate in. They kick it off with the rules of the hula-hoop challenge. Each team formed a chain and had to get a hula-hoop from one end to the other, without breaking the chain. For the next challenge, they walked us over to two planks pushed together for each team. They made the cadets stand on them and announced that they had to rearrange themselves into alphabetical order without getting off the planks or touching the ground. Some teams even stepped over their teammates to try and beat the clock! Once that event was concluded the minefield challenge commenced. Red solo cups were littered like a minefield, and blindfolded cadets had to navigate their way through with only the voices of their team. After that, they split up and teams were called one by one to the laser wall challenge. A rope was set up in random patterns on a pull-up bar and each team had to get 4 of their teammates through the holes in it without touching the lasers. Contortionists were put to the test. While one of the teams went through the wall, the other teams were on the other side of the cafeteria participating in drill led by Cadet Sherrill. The drill team, non-drill team cadets, and first years all took part in it. The attention game was played too where stone cold faced cadets were put to the test. Cadet K. Miller and Cadet McCowen tied for first, no one could break them. Taking longer than previously planned but more fun than previously planned, the Doc activities finished with the mock elections, which had cadet voted categories like Best at drill, Most athletic, Most artistic, Biggest Drama llama, Colonel’s worst nightmare, Biggest suck up, and Banana peel. With the mock elections closing opened a new night of more activities. In the gym, one half was dedicated to basketball while the other half had sumo wrestling and a blow-up obstacle course thanks to SSgt Bejger, local Army National Guard Recruiter. Sgt Ragnone said, “I must have arm wrestled 15 cadets and raced 3 more in the obstacle course.” With a slight intermission for food, everyone had the time of their lives. The sumo wrestling was a big hit and everyone loved it. It was an excuse to shove someone around and not get in trouble! The obstacle course exhausted everyone to make sure when everyone got home they would pass out in bed. Cadet Garrett was laying down even before she got home. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible, and took part in cleaning up and setting up.
Recruiting Presentation
This week, AFJROTC opened up its door to welcome students to explain the joys of the Corp and experiences and friendships that last a lifetime with it. The MI-861 family hopes the presentation given by Cadets Sherrill, Stewart, and Buja persuaded others to join and grow the unit. It worked! Three students have signed up for AFJROTC 2nd Semester, with many more students who are considering joining the program.
Band Concert Ushers
MI-861 partnered with the school band and ushered for their wonderful concert. First impressions are always great, and that’s what parents saw when they arrived to see their children perform in the concert. Amazing job everyone!
Yankee Air Museum Field Trip
On December 4, 2018, AFJROTC took a field trip to the Yankee Air Museum located at the Willow Run airport. We were greeted by our tour guides: Kenneth McFadden, Kurt Affholter, and Willy Perez. Before the tour, they introduced themselves and gave some background information. Each tour guide talked about every artifact we came across. They gave the history of it and sometimes some fun facts. (Most fun facts were about the army's intelligence.) They had six different aircraft and an older version of the Humvee. During lunch, we watched a movie about the Thunderbirds. It talked about their history, requirements, and the first year a woman was a part of the main flying team. Cadet Heffner stated, “It’s was so amazing! Those planes were 20 times bigger than me! Even if you came without an interest in airplanes, once you left you had a new fascination with them.” Before leaving the museum, we took a group picture in front of one of the static jets outside. On the bus ride home, cadets chanted jodies and sang holiday songs. Returning to school in time for retreat, the cadets formed up in formation to participate in taking down the flag. This signifying the end of a wonderful day.
Craft Table Setup
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December 1, 2018, Garden City High School hosted a craft show for all those creative minds to participate in. The Craft Show Setup took place the day before, so everything would be set up and run smoothly. Cadets worked hard after school and finished setting all the tables and chairs in place within thirty minutes. We had people who were in charge in the commons and in the cafeteria so that everything was sure to be in the correct place. “My arms hurt from all the table carrying! At least it looks really nice.” shared Cadet Wood.
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Karaoke Party
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Very fun and unique, this quick planned Karaoke party was an amazing way for existing cadets to meet with potential future cadets and have fun getting to know each other. It was also great to hear the magnificent vocal cords each cadet brought with them. Cadet Stewart exclaimed, “It was so much fun! I loved socializing with everyone and getting new Cadets to join. My sister is considering joining AFJROTC.”
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Santaland Parade
Saturday November 24, 2018, MI-861 led the Santaland parade through the streets of Garden City. In this event, the cadets marched in the cold, for the purpose of to showing everyone our Jodies, or songs we march to with our crisp movements. “Even though the weather wasn't going our way, the cadets stayed enlightened and stayed on cadence with the entirety of the parade.” says Cadet Sherrill. We also presented the colors with our color guard team. Cadet Heffner beamed, “Santaland went great for the color guard. Our hands were frozen, but the warmth from our smiles made it so worth it.”
Airplane Contest
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Ready! Set! Throw! Cadets of MI-861 took part in a paper airplane contest. The Cadets were warned a week in advance to prepare for this perilous event. Tuesday crept closer until finally it was the day, it was time to flex their paper airplane skills. In the gym, everyone who made an airplane lined up threw their plane to see who could travel the farthest distance. After the scores were taken for that, they threw the paper airplane again but this time trying to make it in a cardboard box for accuracy. Out of all the classes the overall winner was……. Sergeant Ragnone! As well as Cadets Munoz, Beauchamp, Sabbagh, Stewart, and Caswell. Cadet Munoz stated, “My paper ball worked better than an airplane could, I played to my strengths and it worked out.”
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Play Ushers
MI-861 Cadets teamed up with the play and ushered eager people longing to see the wonderfully creative play. From Thursday to Sunday the play cast worked hard and had a great audience. Job well done!
Guest Speaker - Officer Shipee & Rudy
Friday November 16, 2018, MI-861 had surprise guest speaker, Officer Bruce Shippe. The hectic half-day became even better when with Officer Shippe, was Rudy who is part of the K-9 unit. He talked about his job and answered questions anyone had to ask. Rudy kept yelling and barking because he wanted to get back to work. The Cadets thought it was a great day and didn’t mind the barking because he was so darn cute. Thank you to Officer Shippe and Rudy!
Parent/Teacher Conferences
On November 14th, 2018, parents flocked to Garden City High School in search of the crucial information from teachers on their child(ren). MI-861 was able to not only give a warm smile and information about the program, but also pass out free suckers. The Cadets who came and helped had a great time. “We were really enthusiastic and persistent. All smiles and polite responses,” shared Cadet Wood. We persuaded 4 cadets to join AFJROTC. Thank you to everyone who took part in this event and gave their time and shared their love for the unit.
Veteran's Day Ceremony
This past Monday, MI-861 took part in the Veterans Day Ceremony held in O’Leary Auditorium at Garden City High School. Veterans past and present, were honored in the presenting of the flags of each branch and oral recognition. Mayor Walker called out each branch of the military and as he did so the veterans stood up with pride. For all they have done for this country, this event was suitable in recognizing and heroic actions of veterans present and absent. The Cadets who took part in Color Guard were well prepared and honored to attend. Without a hitch and event ran smoothly and beautifully. Cadet Colton Dougherty commented, “I could see all the faces in the crowd and I honestly think the ceremony touched their hearts in a special way. You don’t see that every day.”
Can Food Drive
Due to the wild success of many years past, MI-861 decided to host a school-wide canned food drive yet again. The event lasted for 3 weeks and took off from the start. Teachers participated and encouraged their student to do so too. All proceeds were donated to Cougar Care Cafe, a monthly event held at Burger School. The pantry holds canned foods, clothes, and other materials and goods for those who need them. The pantry grew with more cans from the generous Cadets, students, and adults who assisted. A special thanks to anyone who gave a helping hand
In Honor of The American Flag
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The chilly breeze didn’t stop cadets from gathering outside this past November 6th and learning about the American flag. This event was focused on teaching our new and returning cadets, who may not have had the chance to raise, lower, or fold the flag. Cadet Cochran presented a short powerpoint presentation and a demonstration. Afterwards, Flights went outside to practice what they learned about raising and lower the flag. It was a great learning experience for everyone especially the returning cadets who forgot such details. Cadet Micayla Dougherty says, “I actually had fun raising and lowering the flag, it made me feel like I was part of something bigger than myself.”
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Veterans' Music Concert
Our proud AFJROTC cadets showed gratitude towards our veterans and first-responders by opening their doors and presenting both the U.S. flag and the flag of their associated branch. The Garden City High School and Middle School’s choirs sang to express thanks to all who have risked it all for us to keep our freedom. Cadet Heffner stated “It was a respectful event that made veterans feel recognized for all they have done for each and every face in the crowd. To see that made me feel warm and thankful for them in our world.”
U of M Shadow Day
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MI-861 AFJROTC cadets gathered at the University of Michigan on October 25, 2018. The day had started off with a Leadership Reaction Course where we were in a simulation that played out a plane crash. We could not see or touch with our hands because our faces and hands were burned, we had to use our voices to figure out where everyone was. We had to make a H and a Triangle for a SOS signal. We cooperated with other Shadow Day participants and the Sr ROTC cadets at U of M. We watched the higher
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up cadets give out awards to the U of M ROTC cadets. Then, Sr cadets presented an informational presentation on how they operated their unit and what events they did. They gave information on what we could do in college ROTC. Lastly, we were given a tour on campus. They showed us their main Educational buildings, their 3 libraries which were HUGE, and the computer building which had a lot of computers. Cadet Leleniewski commented, “U of M campus was very nice. The SR AFROTC cadets were knowledgeable when learning the values of ROTC and their college experience.” It was a great opportunity for MI-861 cadets to learn and explore the possibilities of the future to come. We would like to thank everyone who made our day worthwhile and showed us around.
Trunk or Treat
On 25 October 2018, nineteen cadets participated in the Garden City wide Trunk or Treat. Cadets aided in chaperoning the excited crowd of children eager to receive free candy. The excitement seemed to have never ended - from seeing outstanding costumes, to cadets participating in Trunk or Treat themselves. Cadet Munoz exclaimed, “So many people loved our costumes, almost as much as they loved the free candy!” Overall, it certainly felt like Halloween had arrived early for our cadets and all who attended the event
Halloween Carnival
The Halloween Carnival on Saturday October 27th ran smoothly. While taking part in the event, cadets helped set up, clean up, run games, and pass candy to kids. The games for the carnival was located in the Maplewood Center gym. The two most popular ones were he lasso wrangler and the pumpkin toss. There was also a craft area where people there colored pumpkins on paper, painted pumpkins and other autumn style crafts. Cadets stepped up to the challenge without hesitation and provided a spectacular day for all who came.
After-School Recycling
AFJROTC teams up with the Certificate of Completion students to take the initiative of recycling every week after school on Tuesdays. This allows cadets to take the initiative and learn what it's like to help the committee through school.
Book Sale Set-up
On Sunday, October 21, AFJROTC with the Garden City Public Library book sale set up. The profits from the book sale fund activities at the Maplewood center throughout the year. The library staff were greatly appreciative for the cadets great efforts.
Halloween Party
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On October 25, 2018 the ROTC hosted a Halloween costume party. The cadets and their guests all watched Hotel Transylvania 3 and showed off their various costumes. There were a vast range of costumes from Russel from Up to Soldier: 76 from Overwatch. In the end, everyone with a costume lined up in the front of the room to be ranked by the panel of judges for the chance to win a bag of gummy bears. The top 3 were a penguin costume, Soldier: 76, and
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a Michael Myers costume. From the party, we got word of two more additional cadets that were looking forward to join our program. The party was a success overall, everyone had a good time, Cadet Z. Litwalk even added, "I really enjoyed the movie, seeing the costumes, and talking to my friends." Both the entertainment and recruiting aspects were a big hit for a party.
Adopt-A-Highway
The Adopt-A-Highway took place on October 22, it was a great success. There were a total of nine cadets that came out after school to help clean up Ford road between Inkster and Merriman. There were many different items found, ranging from small items to big items. All of the cadets had a great time not only picking up trash and items that didn’t belong on the side of the road, but getting to hang out and spend time with each other. Cadet Caswell stated, “We are cleaning up this town one street at a time.” It was a great day for the cadets from the MI-861 Air Force JROTC Unit at the Adopt-A-Highway event to help take care of their community and make it cleaner.
Cadet Challenge
The Cadet Challenge was a very fun and competitive event that a total of eleven cadets participated in. This took place at Howell High School early in the morning on October 20th, 2018. The cadet challenge consisted of five different events. There was a sit-ups part, where each cadet had to do as many sit-ups as they could in one minute. There was also the pull-up section where each cadet had to do as many proper pull-ups as possible. The cadets then had to do the shuttle run. They would run from one side of a court to the
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other a couple times at a full sprint. Each cadet was allowed to try it two times and the fastest time was the one that counted. There was also the v-sit-ups. This event tested the flexibility of each cadet and how far they reached. The fifth and final event was the one mile run. Cadets ran one mile on the track as fast as they could. cadet Doc 3, who placed 1st overall in the one mile run stated, "I liked getting to run the mile, it was pretty exciting." He finished with a great time of 5:35 minutes. Everyone did amazing in all five events which allowed us to place 3rd overall. Go GC!
Homecoming Parade
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On October 19, 2018 JROTC cadets participated in the schools Homecoming parade. We took the lead and marched the parade toward the football field, joyfully screaming jodies out in the cool rain. Despite the weather we walked around the tracked once, some cadets even stayed to enjoy the game afterwards. "The event was awesome! Everyone's marching was crisp the only thing that could've went better was the weather." Says Cadet Sabbagh. Proud parents and family members stood by the bleachers and on the side of the track taking pictures to commemorate this moment. Hopefully next year the weather permits a better day and another proudful march.
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Anchor Bay Drill meet
Every year the Garden City JROTC drill team goes to Anchor Bay High School in hopes of taking home some beautiful trophies. This year was special because it was Anchor Bays 10th annual consecutive drill meet. We competed in 1st year color guard, 1st year unarmed, varsity color guard, varsity armed, varsity unarmed, inspection team, and knock out. Sadly, our team only won a knock out medal, but it was a great experience for 1st year cadets in the program so they now know what drill meets are like. This competition
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goes to show how important practice is and has given us a starting point to work up from. "Even though we didn't do the best, we'll practice harder, get better and win something next time." Says Cadet Brown.
Cougar Care Cafe
Cougar Care Cafe was a success, we had 9 cadets participate and said they enjoyed it very much. It took place on October 13, 2018, at Burger School. The first years that showed up enjoyed this event the most out of anyone. Cadet Monica said, "I liked how we helped everyone with carrying heavy items to their cars." At this event we help those who are in need by cooking food in the cafeteria and carrying items from the local food pantry for people to their car. The returning Cougar Care helpers who love this event were so glad to pass on the joy of helping other cadets appreciate community service. Cadet McCoin said, "It was fun and nice to talk to the community." At the end cadets are allowed to take leftover food so the rest isn't wasted by being thrown out. Nothing is better than seeing the happiness on people's faces of those who were there.
Garden City Park Clean-up
The Garden City Park Cleanup was a success. There were a total of eighteen cadets that came out after school to help clean up their local park. There were many unique items ranging from little candy wrappers, to balloons and a child's shoe. All of the cadets had a great time not only picking up trash and items that didn't belong in the park, but getting to hang out and get to know each other. Even a cadet who left the program joined the cleanup and had a great time. It was a great day for the cadets from the MI-861 Air Force ROTC Unit at the Garden City High School to help take care of their community.
Field Day 2018
This past September AFJROTC Unit MI-861 held our annual Field Day with great success. Although this did not come without a small trial, heavy thunderstorms rolled to Garden City the morning of field day and we had to remove everything from the fields to the gym, but the rain didn't stop us. The day began with Icebreakers to introduce first-year cadets to the rest of the corp. We also had some help provided by our local US Marine recruiter SSgt. Bennett and some of his freshly graduated marines, they helped us to referee and judge events.
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This lead up to our starting event kickball... Alpha, Charlie, Delta, and Echo flights faced off for 1 of 2 spots in the championship match, after all teams played hard it ended with Alpha and Charlie flight ending the championship with a half-point tie by giving up a rematch and both teams splitting a point. Our next event was Tug-of-War which ended after Alpha flight took down all the competition 1 by 1. After that we went on to eat a hot dog lunch prepared by the amazing kitchen staff and help from cadet parents. After some rest and socializing it was back to the gym for some more field day fun. To get all the cadets back into a competitive mood we had a sponge and dizzy bat race. For the sponge race, cadets would get into teams of 8 and had 2 minutes to transfer 1 bucket of water 15ft with only a sponge and their speed, and yes there were a few wipe-outs and teams had to gain back traction for the spilled water. Followed by dizzy bat, then we moved on to soccer. All the teams played in 10 minutes rounds split into 2 halves. First half was played with a big 3ft tall ball and the second was played with a normal regulation soccer ball. Each team had a lot of fun although it would be Charlie flight who came out on top with the win. Field Day would close with our final event the Jodie contest. Flights came up with a poem like song called a Jodie to diss other flights. After all flights performed their Jodie all the judges took time to add up points. Field Day champion would be given to Charlie flight with the most cumulative points, Jodie contest winner would be Echo flight concluding Field Day. All the cadets had a fun time getting to know their teams in this friendly competition, Cadet/2nd Lt. Leleniewski said "Big Ball soccer was my favorite event, the ball was bigger than me!". Even with the setback of rain everyone had fun and a great experience to remember.
Oath Ceremony
October 4th, 2018 marked the day where we welcomed new cadets into the program and made their families proud. This event was one of hard work that required lots of communication and teamwork to set up, but it all of that was worth it to see the smiles on the first years' and their parents faces. Even cadets not attending the event helped set up after school. Gathered in the cafeteria, all the new cadets waited to be marched out into the commons and presented in front of their families. Assigned cadets came up and expressed our core values and gave an insight on
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the wonderful program they are participating in. After the brief summaries were said, food was served for all who came, cake included. To use their own words, cadets shared what they liked about the event. Cadet Stewart: "I enjoyed this event very much, it was a fun thing to do with everyone." Cadet Wood: "I liked the event because the parents get to interact and see the kind of stuff we do for ROTC." The Corp would once again like to thank everyone for their help and participation in the setup and success of this event.
Ice Cream Social
September 13th was an exciting day for AFJROTC cadets, Teachers, Staff, and student guests who were invited to come out and join us for ice cream during our first major event of the school year. The ice cream is an opportunity for the cadets to realize that AFJROTC is bigger than just their class and get acquainted with fellow cadets. Right after school there was a line of people through the AFJROTC classroom and down the hallway. Cadets and guests had the opportunity to participate in multiple activities such as, Football, Soccer, and even Nine Square in the Air, in addition to eating ice cream and listening to music. The games helped kick start the party and kept the cadets engaged and going. There was a great turnout, Everyone loves ice cream and the chance to meet one another! All those who showed up had a great time and left with a smile on their face and a satisfied sweet tooth. Two additional Garden City High School students joined after being introduced to the AFJROTC "family". I heard from a few students that they "would be talking to their counselors to see if they could join the class".
Open House
This past Wednesday, Cadets helped usher parents and students from classroom to classroom as they were looking for the correct class. Cadets, new and old, looked snazzy in uniform for the first time this year. One of our first year Cadets, went above and beyond, showing up in full uniform ready to assist any confused faces around the school.