ROTC raises funds for competition

The Franklin County High School Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Bulldog Battalion recently took part in a combination fund-raiser and team building exercise — to help cover some of their expenses in taking part in national drill team competition.

In early February, Eric Cooper of Big Time Fundraising spearheaded a 59-minute, after-school program in which JROTC students used their cellular phones to sell cookie dough to family and friends in hopes of raising $3,000 to help pay for their planned trip to Daytona Beach, Fla., in mid-April.

“We’ve successfully done these programs at schools throughout Mississippi and Louisiana,” Cooper, a 40-year veteran in helping groups raise funds for their needs, said.

“I had met with Col. (Lynn) Pippen and Sgt. (Marjorie) DeLaGarza a while back and asked them why they wanted to do this — what I call the ‘big why.’

“Their immediate response was to help pay for their trip to national drill competition in the spring. So the next steps included coming up with a prospect list for students to call and actually selling the cookie dough to help them reach their goal.”

Cooper said fund-raising projects need to be fun, but getting high schoolers motivated to participate is somewhat of a tightrope to walk.

“They don’t like selling things for fund-raisers because they’ve done it since elementary school, but they don’t hesitate using their cell phones,” he continued.

“With a little coaching and some motivations — like pizza and prizes — it turns into a successful venture that has everyone working toward one goal.”

Pippen said the fund-raiser was an opportunity for his students to get out of their comfort zone to take on something they might not otherwise do.

“They know what the objective is and they’re willing to work toward that goal, which speaks volumes about their commitment to what we’re doing,” Pippen said of his cadets.

The Bulldog Battalion had been scheduled to participate in the Mississippi Junior ROTC drill team championships on Saturday, Jan. 22, but the event was ultimately cancelled due to an upsurge in coronavirus infections across the Magnolia State.

“I think one of the hardest things I ever had to tell my students was that the state competition had been cancelled,” Pippen said.

“Taking part in these kinds of competitive events is the reward for the hours, days and weeks of hard work that go into building a championship-caliber drill team.”

The disappointment of no state-level event was quickly put aside as program participants learned they would still have a chance to move on to national competition later this spring.

“I’m proud to say that as far as we’re concerned, everything is full speed ahead in terms of preparations for the trip to Daytona Beach,” Pippen continued.

“We have not missed a beat even back to the day when we broke the news to them about the state event being cancelled. Ten minutes afterwards, we were outside training.”

Pippen said the work toward polishing for nationals will include taking part in an invitational competition on Saturday, March 5 at Brandon High School.

“That will be a relatively small competition, which will be a good tune-up for us,” he went on to say.

“And immediately after that weekend event, we will shift our routines — learning new drill cards.

“The comparison is a set of plays in football and you have to learn a new scheme. We have to learn a new scheme after Brandon, and that’s OK because I think we have the skills to do that and be successful.”

Pippen said his drill team has committed itself not to settle for mediocrity nor will it take simply seeking to be good enough to compete as their guiding principles.

“When they compete, they do so with winning on their hearts and minds,” he added. “Whether they are doing that in drill competition or raising the money needed to go to nationals, their committed to the cause.

“The end goal is to make it Daytona Beach and create memories that will last a lifetime for these kids and build a desire to make these kinds of competitions an expectation in the years ahead.”

Pippen said the recent cookie dough fund-raiser was part of the effort to get sufficient dollars to make the trip.

A final dollar amount needed for the journey will largely depend on how much the Army will contribute to sending the Franklin County students to compete.

He preliminarily estimated placed the cost at around $25,000, which includes hotel accommodations, a charter bus, meals and registration costs.

“We’re going to get there,” Pippen said.

Cooper said he was pleased with the effort put forth by the local JROTC cadets during the recent fund-raiser.

“The main reason that people were buying from them is not because they’re dying to have another tub of cookie dough,” Cooper added.

“It’s because they love them and they love the program and want to help support them. It takes the pressure out of making those calls because they can have fun with it. It was about seeing what could be done in an hour’s time.”