The Shadow Ridge High School AFJROTC recently participated in the Veteran’s Day parade in downtown Las Vegas. The parade was held on a beautiful day which allowed students to give the perfect demonstration of their unit’s discipline. While two out of the four instructors have been attending this parade for the past four years, this is Colonel Argie Moore’s first time participating in it.
The new instructor, Moore, served in the military for 25 years. As a veteran herself, she enjoyed being at the parade as well as watching the cadets, who had been working hard, march in full uniform as well as staying in sync.
Teaching was never actually on Moore’s radar. In fact, she didn’t think about becoming a teacher until she retired.
Moore stated, “My goal was to find a position that allowed me to maintain a service orientation. I vividly recall the positive influence AFJROTC had on me during my three years as a cadet, making this the ideal environment for me to give back and shape the next generation.”
Now that Moore is an instructor at Shadow Ridge High School, she enjoys being able to connect and help students not only learn marching but valuable life skills as well.
She stated, “I find it immensely fulfilling, especially the direct interaction and the profound opportunity it provides to positively influence young people.”
For the Veteran’s Day parade alone, cadets had six after school practices to help prepare them for the event, cadets were expected to attend at least three minimum. From the first practice to the actual event, Moore, as well as the other instructors, saw a significant improvement with the unit all together. The first-year cadets also caught Moore’s attention when she saw their improvement from day one as well as the confidence they displayed in the moment.
Cadet Jaiden Yurko, a sophomore at Shadow Ridge, is in his second year of the AFJROTC program. This is also Yurko’s second year attending the Veteran’s Day parade and thought it was a great experience for students to show appreciation towards Veterans.
Yurko stated, “March with a metronome. Especially for first year cadets, it’s a great way to practice and the knowledge will stick beyond the Veteran’s day parade.”
For people who are new to the program, marching is a big part of it. Although this is helpful to anyone already in or planning on joining, metronomes can be really helpful. The thought of marching may seem easy but without calling a proper cadence or some form to keep count, students are likely to get off step quicker. The practices the JROTC program does to get prepared for the parade isn’t the only thing that’ll help them, consistent practice is.
In students’ free time, after talking with instructors to make sure they are at proper tempo, practicing initiation steps, practicing staying in time with every click, and always practicing how they’ll perform will not only shape students as individuals but shape their unit all together leaving them looking sharper than ever.
