Cadets rave about JROTC

Students spoke of the positive influence JROTC has had on their lives.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Bernice Cintron remembers when not too long ago she was quiet and carried many negative attitudes.
Being a member of The Rayen School's Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program changed all of that, however.
"Before I came to this program, I was a hothead. ... I became a better person. Now I help people more," the Rayen sophomore said, dressed in her military uniform.
Bernice added that she hopes to pursue a career in the Army or Navy and that the program has given her better leadership skills.
Also benefiting from the JROTC program is sophomore Clinton Holt, who said his self-confidence has increased. Among his goals are to attend Ohio State University and go to law school, Clinton added.
Bernice and Clinton were among several students who received a variety of awards, ribbons and recognitions at Friday's JROTC annual awards ceremony at the school.
The students were honored for their academic achievements in the program as well as their leadership skills and community service work.
About 95 Rayen students are in the JROTC program, which began in 1995 at the school. JROTC lists motivating youngsters to be better citizens as its main mission.
Student cadets in the program perform community work, including volunteering at the American Red Cross, the Second Harvest Food Bank, the Mahoning County Green Team and the Salvation Army, explained Army instructor 1st Sgt. Charles Sutton, a 1968 Rayen graduate. JROTC also is set up to instill discipline and help students improve their self-esteem, Sutton said.
Good turnout
A few hundred students, parents and friends came to the banquet, which featured as its keynote speaker Maj. Gen. Arthur B. Morrill III, director of logistics at Dayton Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
Morrill, a 1969 Rayen graduate, cited Walt Disney, Madame C.J. Walker and Chris Gardner as role models he said exemplify several core values that the military represents.
Early in his career, Disney was an ambulance driver who saw the many struggles people living in some cities had to endure, Morrill noted.
Disney envisioned clean, safe urban areas and built Epcot Center to symbolize that, he said.
Walker, who was the daughter of slaves, wanted black women to have better employment opportunities and developed beauty products to help them look better, thereby increasing their employment prospects, Morrill said.
Walker eventually started her own beauty products company and employed many black women, he added.
Despite hardships in his youth, Gardner maintained a positive, self-confident attitude, which led to his getting a job as a stockbroker even though he lacked a college degree.
Gardner later founded his own brokerage firm, Morrill continued.
The JROTC program is the only one of its kind in the Mahoning Valley.
The Rayen School is set to close in June, but the program will continue at East High School on the city's East Side.
Freshman Samantha Gonzalez was honored for administering first aid to a student Nov. 20 in the school auditorium. The student was having an epileptic seizure.