School board salutes JROTC state championship efforts

The Franklin County Board of Education welcomed members of the area’s Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps during the panel’s Tuesday, Dec. 20 business meeting to recognize the program for its recent run in earning a first-ever state championship.

Among those representing the Franklin County High School JROTC Drill Team at the session were the program’s instructors — retired Col. Lynn Pippen and retired Sgt. First Class Marjorie De La Garza — along with three senior cadet leaders, which included Ayden Harrell, Seth Powell and Austin Wallace.

“The challenge we have as a JROTC program is to relate exactly what it means to be a state champion in drill competition,” Pippen said in his opening remarks at the meeting.

“There has been clearly hours upon hours of sweat, anguish, work and frustration — and even some blood that was shed — pointed toward that state championship trophy.”

Pippen went on to say preparing for JROTC drill competition is so physically demanding that members of the team have the bumps, bruises and scars to show for their efforts.

“There is truly a great deal of complexity in our sport — but nobody thinks of JROTC as a sport,” he continued. “I refer to it as a sport because it involves athleticism at the highest level, physical hand-eye coordination along with endurance, discipline and determination.”

Pippen said his cadets look great in everything they do, but are judged by trained eyes in drill competition that look for things that might be just a single millimeter off.

“I hope people will have a great deal of pride in knowing the hard work of these extraordinary young men and women who brought home a state championship,” he added. “They are also just as committed to taking part in national competition with a desire of finishing among the top 10 programs in the country.”

Pippen said FC — as a 3A school — beat much larger 6A schools for the drill crown, which makes the accomplishment that much sweeter and speaks to the character of the community that sent their children and grandchildren to participate.

De La Garza, who serves as head coach for the precision drill program, said the local JROTC has come a long way in terms of being a competitive unit in a short time.

“Through partnerships with other schools — like Petal High School — we learned a great deal that lit a fire in our kids and in me over the past two years,” she said.

“Last year, our initial goal was to beat Petal at the state championships because they had taken it so many years. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to compete at the state level due to COVID-19, but did get a taste at nationals where we were fair.

“This year, we came back even stronger and the fire kept getting bigger until the state drill competition. We finished neck-and-neck with Petal and shared the grand championship at Ocean Springs. There’s no other school I would have rather shared that honor with than Petal with all they’ve done to support and foster us.”

Pippen and De La Garza said the Franklin County and Petal JROTC units are now partnering to represent the Magnolia State in May at national competition to be held in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Harrell said FC’s drill team took part in both armed and unarmed competition during the fall with the squad claiming top honors at preliminary events at Terry High School on Saturday, Oct. 8, at Ocean Springs High School on Saturday, Oct. 22 and at Hancock High School on Saturday, Nov. 12.

In the title tilt on Dec. 10, FC finished first in Overall Unarmed Drill and second in Overall Armed Drill while Petal was second in Unarmed and First in Armed.

“The difference is in the armed events we have to carry an eight pound rifle that involves learning stationary movements along with marching stances and techniques,” Harrell told the board.

“In unarmed competition, you’re doing a lot of the same movements ... just without the rifle. A lot of work goes into both efforts and there’s a lot of responsibility for each team member and for the group as a whole.”

Cadets also participated in inspections as well as questioning during their drill events

Harrell, Powell and Wallace demonstrated some of their drills for the board members and were asked about their experiences in the program.

School board members, Superintendent Chris Kent and those in attendance gave a standing ovation to the JROTC group for their accomplishments.

In other action, the Franklin County Board of Education considered the following business:

• Business Manager Tremel Young told officials, in reviewing the district’s transportation budget, that $130,000 was set aside for fuel expenses and roughly $40,000 of that amount remains until the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

“In either January or February, we will likely come to you to amend the budget,” Young said. “We have the money in various places where we have not spent it and will move that to address transportation costs.”

She estimated the district could look at having to increase its fuel budget by as much as $50,000 to cover diesel and gasoline for the remainder of the school term.

“Right now, on average, we’re spending around $13,000 to $14,000 each month for fuel,” she went on to say.

Kent said the lion’s share of fuel expense for Franklin County schools has been on diesel, which is still averaging better than $4 per gallon.

The superintendent noted the district has only one gasoline-powered bus in its current fleet.

• Young reported the district’s maintenance fund balance as of Nov. 30 stood at $522,519.67, which took into account the payment of an existing loan.

She went on to say the district maintenance cash balance for the same reporting period was $1,937,104.59.

Young cited the local school system had completed 41 percent of the 2022-2023 academic year at the end of November with 28 percent of anticipated revenues being received for the fiscal year and 34 percent of planned expenses spent thus far.

• Authorized a revision to grant funding — to allow for the purchase of equipment and supplies — through the 21st Century Community Learning Center program for fiscal year 2022.

Additionally, the board approved applying for Educational Enhancement Funds for the Franklin County Career-Technical Center in the amount of $11,834 to benefit the Health Sciences program; a 21st Century CLC grant for fiscal year 2023 totaling $399,926; and for the MCOPS — an acronym for Mississippi Community Oriented Policing Services — grant valued at $20,000 to support the district’s school resource law enforcement officers program.

• Voted to return performance bonds on previous timber cutting and planting bids to CSP Services Inc., in the amount of $6,000 and to Baretto Forestry totaling $4,000.

• Approved recommendations for two substitute bus drivers — Angela Chance and Dexter Wilson; a substitute bus monitor — Ally Jordan; and learned about the planned retirement of FCCTC welding instructor Calvin Wactor at the end of the current school year.
• Adopted three district policy revisions involving access to public records, federal purchasing and procurement protocols and for substitute teachers.

The next meeting for the board will be held at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 17 in the offices of the Superintendent of Education on First Street in Meadville.