Dec 20, 2012 2 min read

Trinity High School has received approval from the U.S. Army to offer a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

Trinity will become the first school district in Washington County to offer the program to its students, according to Trinity Area School District Superintendent Paul Kasunich.

“This isn’t simply for students who think they want to go to the military. It’s a really good experience for students to learn leadership skills, community service and hands-on skill sets that will help them regardless of what they do,” said Kasunich. “It’s been on my radar for a long time.”

JROTC is a high school elective that will be available to students in grades nine through 12 at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year.

High school social studies teacher Erek Clacks, a retired U.S. Army major, is certified to instruct the course and will leave his current position to teach ROTC classes on subjects including citizenship, leadership and physical fitness.

As required by the Army’s curriculum, the school district will hire another retired military officer to teach along with Clax.

The district plans to initially fund the program, expected to cost about $150,000, because it is on the Army’s waiting list for federal funds and doesn’t want to delay the program until government money becomes available.

“At some point within the next year or two, the federal government will start to fund a percentage of the program, typically half, but we feel that this is such an important program that we’re willing to make that investment,” said Kasunich.

The school board approved the JROTC program at a meeting earlier this year.

School board President Scott Day said many students have expressed interest in the JROTC.

Students who participate in JROTC are not required to join the military, but, according to the U.S. Deparment of Defense, between 30 percent and 50 percent of JROTC students do.