by Daisy Creager | Staff Writer
Two teams of four cadets were recognized for winning the 2011 Army JROTC Leadership and
academic Bowl (JLAB) at George Mason University in Washington DC. In international competition, the team competed against 1645 JORTC programs worldwide, including teams from Germany, Guam, and Korea
“The competition starts in October and goes through two phases in which teams compete online. In the first two rounds, we’re competing against 311 schools from eight different states. After the first phase, the top 50% of the schools go on [to the second phase], and the first-place winners of the second phase go on to compete at Washington DC,” explained Lieutenant Colonel Alan Maitland.
The leadership team, consisting of Shelby Skloss, Derek Vincent, Theodore Creager and John Garcia, was tested over leadership values, current events, and the book Soldier, Statesman, Peacemaker: Leadership Lessons from George C. Marshal, going on to compete against 40 other leadership teams at the finals in Washington and win the 2011 Army JLAB Leadership National Title. The students came home with several medals, a letter from General Colin Powel, and recognition by Welcome Home and the San Antonio Express-News.
“We don’t take them to Washington. The cadets take us, and we were very fortunate to have two teams of cadets who wanted it enough to do what they did to win,” Colonel Maitland said.
The academic team, consisting of Ellen Pennington, Sean Hassan, Victoria Crooks and Alyce Doyle, was tested Jeopardy -style over SAT/ACT questions against 24 other academic teams who made it to the finals, and won the title 2011 Army JLAB Runner-Up Champions-just barely losing to last year’s champions.
“We’ll definitely be able to take away some of the ideas we had while we were there, and how the team dynamics ended up working out. We’ll be able to start that earlier while we’re preparing for this year, and know more of the competition that’s at DC, because it’s definitely different from the first two rounds. We’ll be more prepared if we’re able to get there next year,” academic team captain Ellen Pennington said.
To the cadets who went, the the biggest part wasn’t winning the competition, but what they got out of it.
“I learned so much; not just in the competition, but in the whole experience. About our country’s government as well- what it takes to run a government, as well as team dynamics and how to cooperate with other people,” leadership team captain Shelby Skloss said. “It was an amazing experience for me. I think it was for everybody else, too.”
