AFJROTC Kahoot Trivia 2
During our Second Kahoot Trivia this year cadets had a fun time battling it out against each other to see who had the most knowledge about topics like space, government, food, TV, and of course JROTC. When it came down to the game itself though there could only be 3 winners and those winners were as follows: 3rd Place Cornelius, 2nd Place MSgt Ragnone, and our 1st Place winner Vanderpool. These winners earned some bragging rights amongst their fellow cadets, and all the other cadets that participated earned some free knowledge about the world. As my last event, it was nice to be able to give cadets a little bit of enjoyment at the end of the year and I hope that someone picks up where I left off to continue these trivia nights for more cadets to enjoy.
KHAS Nature Walk
|
KHAS members went on a hike at the Rouge Gateway Trailhead. The scenery was beautiful, and the weather was superb. There were so many different trails to walk through! Cadets came across a thin trail that looked uncharted, so Cadet Matthes said they should follow it to see where it goes. After encountering cobwebs, fallen logs, small creeks, and even a tiny snake, the cadets on the trail returned to civilization when the trail ran into the main trail. The trail that looked to be uncharted up until KHAS members discovered it, was named the “Matthes Trail” in honor of Cadet Matthes. Doc 2, who was leading the charge down the trail, remarked “We named the trail the “Matthes Trail”, since it wasn’t named and it almost seemed like it was an undiscovered trail! I got hit with a bunch of cobwebs, but it was still pretty fun!”
|
KHAS Spring Party
|
Kitty Hawk Air Society hosted a spring party specifically for its members. They had lunch in the MRC and played games together in hopes of team building. They played Uno, Speed, and Mancala. They also used this opportunity to discuss a future event. One cadet said that “It was nice to have something small for just members”.
|
Blossom Bash
|
After a long winter indoors, the Blossom Bash was a great way to start spring and provide cadets with a safe way to get out of the house and socialize. Our wonderful Michigan springtime delivered a chilly day moving the event indoors, but this did not dampen cadet spirit. Cadets participated in cornhole, giant jenga, uno, apples to apples, and a few rounds of knockout. The event started with a lovely speech from Cadet Corps Commander Doc1 thanking cadets for coming out and holding a moment of silence for victims of COVID-19. After a year living in the pandemic, cadets were well aware of the guidelines and did a wonderful job of following them. Cadets who suffered the Blossom Brew’s wrath did it of free
will or self made punishment from losing at giant jenga. “It was my favorite event so far,” shared Cadet Sradtner, who won at knockout, as well as Cadets Julien and Wood. Thank you to yearbook for photographing cadets at the photo station, the Blossom Bash Planning Committee, the cadre for continued support, and all of the cadets that participated at the event. |
Room Beautification
Cadets from Echo Eggos pitched in to clean, organize and improve the AFJROTC classroom. Cadets organized drawers, shelves, and tables all around the classroom, increasing the efficiency of staff members, and instructors. The improvements were small yet still noticeable. “It was a great idea to clean up the classroom, especially since we use it every day,” remarked Doc 1. Thank you to all those who stepped up to give a little something back to the Corps!
Hines Park Hike
Goodbye Litter
|
Cadets from all flights put on gloves and headed out the side door to go pick up trash. Cadets were split up into two groups and went around the school. Anything and everything was picked up that was on or around the school campus. Once again, AFJROTC has left their mark on Garden City by helping to reduce waste around the community. Cadet Cornelius exclaimed, “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.”
|
Purple Bag Challenge
|
Cadets once again devoted time after school to assist the city in trash pick-up. Cadets rolled gloves and purple bags together for the City to offer to Garden City residents. The residents can then pick up the rolled bags at City Hall, and use it to clean up litter. “It’s great to see cadets pitch in and help the City, which in turn helps the community.” said Cadet Doc 1, who ran the event. Even though this was the third time having the event, the cadets were just as excited to help out. Thank you to all those who helped run the event and those who participated!
|
St.Patty's ROTC Party
|
MI-861 has gotten into the holiday spirit with our recent St. Patrick’s Day party! On Wednesday, March 17th, our cadets were able to enjoy some great music, a variety of snacks and drinks, and a few different activities while maintaining our school’s sanitization and social distancing rules. We had a leprechaun scavenger hunt during the event, at which our cadets Doc 1, Doc 2, and Gonzalez had a surprisingly great eye for and won some prizes! Following the announcements of the winners, you could find everyone enjoying the candy, chips, and other goodies offered to those who attended our party in the MRC. Another impressive winner we had at our event was cadet Hilton, who was the first cadet to guess how many chocolate gold coins and eggs were in the jar which ended up as his prize!
While all of this was going on, many cadets were enjoying their time socializing with friends and meeting new people amidst the nice music and green decorations that were just right for the occasion. Cadets Cornelius and Thiede, and even our Colonel had also said they were glad so many cadets could attend the party! One of our first year cadets had also commented how “it’s pretty cool, we get to hang out with friends, and we also get free food!” Of course, we couldn’t forget that GCHS and ROTC had a St. Patty’s spirit day, so we had to have a costume contest to see who was wearing the most green. It’s great to hear that cadets Berry, Oliver, and Brandt went all out for our spirit wear contest and earned some nice prizes, including candy and gift cards! We want to give an extra big thank you to all cadets who came, as well as everyone who worked behind the scenes so that we could host this party. Hopefully we can see you all again at our next event! |
Scavenger Hunt
|
Cadets raced against the clock to solve riddles and use clues to find special locations inside of Garden City High School. This involved anything from scrambled room names to clues in order to find a certain teacher and more. Cadets were given their list of clues and 20 minutes to race for some prizes. We had prizes for our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of which we would like to give a special thanks to Tony from the Garden City Café for giving our corps a $25 voucher for our 1st place cadet to come get a hot meal.
|
KHAS Movie Night
|
KHAS sponsored another virtual MI-861 movie night on Friday, March 5th 2021. Many cadets have said they enjoy having occasional movie nights, so KHAS set up another voting poll with a variety of G and PG rated movies that we could watch. We chose to watch the winning movie, “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone”, although “The Goonies” was a close second! This movie night allowed cadets to sit back and watch the movie with their friends in JROTC, while being able to talk to each other in chat. We did have some technical troubles but in the end, everyone who was able to attend said the movie was pretty good, and it was great to see everybody there!
|
Operation Gratitude
|
On February 10th, 2021, the cadets of MI-861 tested their bracelet-making skills while participating in Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude is a non-profit organization that sends care packages to deployed troops. Their most notable item they send is the “quick deploy” paracord bracelet, which in a given circumstance, has the possibility to save a soldier’s life. The event was offered to both virtual and in-person cadets in order to give this great opportunity to all cadets. After many hand cramps, the cadets quickly realized too much paracord was ordered. This problem gave the cadets a unique opportunity to work on the bracelets on their own time. In the end, the event was a success as cadets were able to tie 133 bracelets. Take it from Doc 2 who stated, “Although we struggled at first we finished with a lot of good bracelets that I hope the soldiers will appreciate”.
|
KHAS Escape Room
Virtual Jeopardy
|
Everyone at some point or another has heard the classic Jeopardy theme, and found themselves wanting to play it just for fun. Well for the MI-861 cadets, we actually had an opportunity to play a custom Jeopardy game. The topics were video games, sports, TV, Books, and, of course, AFJROTC general knowledge. The game was about 30 minutes in length and for its duration all of the teams were neck and neck but the last 5 questions tripped up some and advanced others. Nine cadets attended, so we split them up into 3 teams and in the end, the Purple team won by over a thousand point lead. The members of this team were cadets Lewis, Wood, and Crist. The prize of winning was some much needed extra credit. When asked afterward, most of the cadets had positive feedback and left us with some mentionable quotes. “I had a good time so for those who couldn't make it I recommend you come next time.” declared Cadet Wood. Thank you to all those who participated, and Cadet Booth for running the event!
|
Chair Assembly Community Service Event
|
On our first day back of second semester, our amazing AFJROTC cadets are jumping straight into the swing of volunteering for community service events again! At GCHS we are getting new opportunities to help teachers and staff everyday, just like this event on February 1st where we were able to assist in assembling chairs. Thanks to our reliable and dedicated cadets, we were able to put together all of the chairs in one day! Cadet Doc 2 enthusiastically stated, “We had a few struggles in the beginning, but after a bit we were able to assemble a bunch!” MI-861 is happy to see that we could help our community, and a big thank you to the cadets who were able to attend. We hope to see even more cadets come and help out for future opportunities!
|
Virtual Wheel of Fortune
|
This past Friday, on the 15th, cadets tested their luck in our second virtual game event of January, Wheel of Fortune! Cadets played through multiple rounds of a PowerPoint presentation of the classic game show that contained words & phrases all related to JROTC and the Military. Some cadets, such as Cadet Lewis scored big by winning over $20,000 and leaving the competition in the dust. However, others were not so lucky with the wheel, just ask Cadet Vanderpool, who unfortunately spun bankrupt multiple times! By the end of the event, three lucky cadets were declared the winners. Cadets Cornelius, Lewis, and Wood all received a prize of $10.00 each in the form of a Target gift card. Even though not everyone could snag themselves a victory, all the cadets had a great time at the event. Take it from Cadet Wood who said, “This was one of the most exciting virtual events we have had!” At the end of the day, the event was considered a success, and we are all looking forward to the next virtual event!
|
KHAS Recruiting Event
Although this pandemic has certainly prevented some events from taking place, AFJROTC has found a way to overcome the difficulties and still have a little fun. KHAS cadets were able to hold a recruiting event to introduce new cadets to the society. Since this pandemic is preventing face-to-face interaction between students, the recruiting event was a fresh opportunity for cadets to make friends. KHAS cadets and potential
recruits, called pledges, played games like Two Truths and A Lie, and Guess What I Have, while they learned more about the program. As Cadet Doc 1 stated, “I think this was a great experience, not only for the pledges but for the existing KHAS members. We got a lot of new recruits too!” Thank you to the KHAS commander, Cadet Cornelius, and all those who participated!
recruits, called pledges, played games like Two Truths and A Lie, and Guess What I Have, while they learned more about the program. As Cadet Doc 1 stated, “I think this was a great experience, not only for the pledges but for the existing KHAS members. We got a lot of new recruits too!” Thank you to the KHAS commander, Cadet Cornelius, and all those who participated!
Virtual Trivia Game Night
On January 8th, we kicked off the return from winter break with an entertaining trivia game hosted on Kahoot. Cadets tested their knowledge of geography, space, food, JROTC, technology, and more for the chance to win some prizes. The top 5 highest scores won a $10 gift card to a restaurant or store of their choosing. The feedback from the event was so enthusiastic, that we are planning on having a second Trivia event next semester, and hopefully in-person. Cadet Major went as far as to say, “It was one of the best times I’ve had since starting the online school experience”. So make sure you are paying attention to the daily announcements to hear the next date, and maybe you can have a chance at winning some prizes during the next trivia day. I hope to see you there, and be sure to bring your A-game!
Virtual Movie Night
On Friday, November 20, 2020, AFJROTC held its first ever Virtual Movie Night. The purpose of this event was to try something new with our restrictions due to COVID-19. In the event, we had a voting poll with a wide selection of movies we could watch. One of those choices was “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse”, which prevailed against 8 other movies that had been in the running. The event provided cadets with a relaxed atmosphere to watch the movie and talk to each other in the chat, and the movie ran great considering how streaming videos and movies have trouble sometimes. “We’re all glad this new type of event was a success, and hopefully more events like this can be done in the future”, said Cadet Melendez.
Veteran's Day Ceremony
|
The MI-861 AFJROTC unit held a Veterans Day Ceremony at Garden City High School, on November 11, 2020. Many Veterans and relatives were in attendance with us as we held a ceremony in remembrance of this honorable day. Our cadets also made a great effort in keeping seating socially distanced and bringing extra unused masks to help the event run smoothly. With the start of this event, our unit’s Corps Commander, Cadet/Lt Col Schwarze, faced the crowd of incredible Veterans and attendees to give a speech honoring every Veteran, even those not present. Following C/ Schwarze’s speech about the significance of this day, our First Sergeant C/ Lewis played a wonderful live performance of Taps. Then came our impressive cadets in Flag Detail. Cadet Wood commanded the Detail including C/ Dunn and C/ Ironside during the playing of the National Anthem, where they slowly and professionally lowered our school’s American flag while our unit’s formation saluted. Once the tune of our National Anthem came to a slow, our Flag Detail retired the school’s flag and our unit was told to fall out. Everyone had a chance to talk after, and many cadets and Veterans said they were happy to have attended, with one even saying they were “Proud of what you all do out here!” Overall, the MI-861 unit as a whole was honored to have taken this time to remember this unique day, and we would love to see even more Veterans and cadets attend next year!
|
Halloween Party
|
Once again, the time for buying out all the candy from every nearby store came for the JROTC cadets to enjoy. At our Unit's Halloween Party, cadets were able to enjoy an array of events and candy while maintaining our new socially distanced measures. So many cadets dressed up for our costume contest, you'd think it was Halloween! Judged by our principal Mrs. Kollar, who joined in the spirit dressed as a lobster. She declared that King Thiede took 1st place, while S.Trezil earned second by practicing social distancing as a Ghost, and the nightmare killer Freddy Krueger, A.K.A. Langer, placed third. Cadets engaged in conversation, colored pumpkins, and choked down an unhealthy amount of candy. You would also find people guessing the amount of candy in a jar, which ultimately Thiede won with a guess of 43 pieces followed by beating Sarge in a coin flip. Cadet Schwarze stated, “Despite these trying times, MI-861 was able to put together a COVID friendly Halloween party”. And Cadet Julien said, “If you couldn't make it this year, then you really missed out. If you can, come by for next year's party!”
|
Goodbye Litter
|
On October 16th, MI-861 had its first Goodbye Litter of the school year. The purpose of this event is to pick up trash around the high school and Cambridge helping clear the debris that accumulated over the summer break. Remaining socially distanced and also masked up, cadets were split up into 4 groups of 4 to 5 people and sent in opposite directions to cover as much of the school grounds as possible. At the end of the event cadets had managed to collect a large garbage bag full of trash when combining the groups collection. Cadet Plotkowski shared, “It was so much fun being able to see and interact with other cadets while doing something to help the school.” Special thanks to C/2Lt Melendez for planning, organizing and running this event. The event was a big success with roughly 20% of corps showing up to volunteer their time to keep the school looking good.
|
GC Park Clean-Up
|
On, October 2nd, 2020, MI-861 hosted a clean up at Garden City Park that lasted an hour. The event had started at 1 pm and ended at 2 pm, with a whooping 23 cadets in total that showed up for the event! It was perfect weather to be outside and help the community. Cadets were sent in all different directions of the park to search for trash to pick up. Cadets were asked to socially distant during their job, and all of them respected the rule. At the end of the cleanup, there were pouches of chips and water handed out to cadets as a small treat - courtesy of C/Slade. As the event came to a close C/Slade thanked the cadets for their willingness to do good in their community and their hard work won't go unnoticed. The cadets left a cleaner and happier park to enjoy the great weather for the weekend. Great Job cadets!
|
Hines Park Bike Ride
|
Although this year has cancelled many previous plans, the Hines Park Bike Ride pulled through! Hines Drive was closed off letting cyclists, walkers, and runners enjoy the gorgeous morning without traffic. Cadets came out and had a blast at this event, not only were they getting exercise but also social interaction that has been absent from many people’s lives since the lockdown. Providing students with a chance to get outside and stay active, AFJROTC was overjoyed to host this event. Thank you Mrs. Kollar and her husband for chaperoning, and thank you cadets for biking almost 12 miles with us!
|
IceCream Social
|
On Friday September 25th, AFJROTC held its first fun social event of the school year with the Ice Cream Social in a COVID world following social distancing rules. We did three big activities throughout the event; eating ice cream, teaching drill to first-year cadets, attention game which was nice to see, and kickball which was a blast. The temperature was high and ice cream was melting fast so we had to hand it out quickly. The event ended at 2:15, and overaIl it was an amazing time seeing everybody while enjoying eating some ice cream.
|
Purple Bag Roll-up
|
The roll-up was a great way to kick off the school year! Though the school year may be very different from the one before, cadets still found a way to give back to the community and still stay safe. Having classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was hard for new and returning cadets to meet their fellow classmates. The Purple Bag Roll-up gave the students not only a way to meet new friends but to get out of the house, and still give back to the community. Cadets were tasked with rolling up pairs of gloves inside of purple bags along with an information card. These bags would then be sent to City Hall, where citizens could participate in a challenge to collect as much trash around the city as they can! The event is only in its second year, but the cadets have rolled 400+ purple bags.
|