Donations save JROTC for Monroe, Snohomish students
Published 8:46 pm Tuesday, September 7, 2010
SNOHOMISH — Call it some TLC for the ROTC.
Donations are making it possible for Monroe students to again enroll in Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps classes at Snohomish High School.
All of which comes as a relief for supporters of the tradition-rich program, which was on the chopping block in the spring because of budget cuts in the Snohomish and Monroe school districts.
Monroe had been sending students to Snohomish for more than three decades, but the school board cut JROTC from its budget for this year.
Volunteers have stepped forward to offer to raise money to pay for their transportation and instruction.
“We are committed,” said Doug Roulstone, a retired Navy captain who has spearheaded the fundraising. “We will raise the money for how many students want to go.”
The goal is around 25 students.
Monroe leaders last week agreed to allow the outside financing. They’ve begun contacting students who enrolled in the JROTC last year and indicated an interest in returning. Other students can contact their Monroe High School counselors, said Rosemary O’Neil, a school district spokeswoman.
It has been an uphill climb to keep JROTC going.
Last spring, the Snohomish School Board gave Superintendent Bill Mester the authority to contact the military to begin the process of dropping the program. The cash-strapped district was looking for ways to cut its budget.
Since then, Mester learned from Bill McHenry, national program director for the Marine Corps JROTC based in Quantico, Va., that the two teachers in the Snohomish program can be used part time in non-JROTC capacities.
As a result, Capt. Will Lennon, a teacher in the JROTC program, will teach a 6:30 a.m. physical education class at Snohomish High this fall. He said he is glad to do so.
“It will let me get my workout in before school starts,” he said.
Lennon called the community support “overwhelming.”
“We are going in the right direction,” he said. “It is extremely encouraging.”
The reprieve gives JROTC backers time to rebuild enrollment, which drives funding. Roulstone said he expects 100 students this year and hopes to see that number increase to 150 next year.
The Snohomish JROTC program has been in existence since 1967 and is one of the first programs of its kind on the West Coast. It’s one of just three in the state affiliated with the Marine Corps.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
Help the cause
To contribute to the fundraising campaign, donations can be sent to MCJROTC Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 871, Snohomish, WA 98291.
To learn more about JROTC, call 360-563-4019.
