What’s New with the Blue Devil Battalion?
By JROTC Cadet Janessa Thomas; JROTC PAO
Senior Night
As the year treads on the JROTC program produces and sends off seniors that have taken knowledge and developed through leadership and led by example for the past 4 years. It is with a heavy heart that the program must let go of some amazing leadership the Blue Devil Battalion will have let go during the 2021-2022 school year. Senior night is a way that Winter Haven High School puts a spotlight on seniors within the football team, band, cheerleading, and JROTC during the last game of that football season. The mission of JROTC is "To Motivate Young People to be Better Citizens". The JROTC program is designed to teach high school students the value of citizenship, leadership, service to the community, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment, while instilling in them self-esteem, teamwork, and self discipline. The program also provides cadets the opportunities to serve their high school and community through volunteering. By being apart of the program until your senior year it is our hope and mission to send those who enter off with a new grasp and sense of responsibility when it comes to lessons learned.
Raiders to States
For the first time in the Winter Haven High School JROTC history our male raider team made it all the way to the state level competition! Being up against 24 other teams within their tier they successfully placed 2nd place overall in rope bridge and 3rd place overall in tire flip. Raiders practice rigorously during the week and train to keep their competing times down and work on building true teamwork and communication. Raiders is the most physically demanding team that JROTC has. The commander Gabriel Vazquez for the 2021-2022 school year helped meld the team and push all of the team member participants get through whatever troubling or physically demanding task that got presented before them.
Poppy Drive
Every year the Blue Devil JROTC program participates in the American Legion Poppy Drive collecting donations that go back into the veteran’s association. The poppy is the enduring
symbol of remembrance of the First World War. It is strongly linked with Armistice Day (11 November), but the poppy's origin as a popular symbol of remembrance lies in the landscapes of the First World War. Poppies were a common sight, especially on the Western Front. They flourished in the soil churned up by the fighting and shelling. The Great War, as it was then known, ravaged the landscape of Western Europe, where most of the brutal fighting took place. From the devastated landscape of the battlefields, the red poppy would grow and, thanks to a famous poem, become a powerful symbol of remembrance. Across northern France and Flanders (northern Belgium), the brutal clashes between Allied and Central Powers soldiers tore up fields and forests, tearing up trees and plants and wreaking havoc on the soil beneath. In the warm early spring of 1915, bright red flowers began peeking through the battle-scarred land: Papaver rhoeas, known variously as the Flanders poppy, corn poppy, red poppy and corn rose.
Alzheimer’s Walk
Since 2019 the Blue Devil Battalion has participated in and helped coordinate the Alzheimer’s Walk Event previously held at Jocker Stadium. Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's® is the world's
largest fundraiser for Alzheimer's care, support and research. Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms eventually grow severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, a general term for memory loss and other cognitive abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60-80% of dementia cases. While there is no fee to register for Walk, all participants are encouraged to raise critical funds that allow the Alzheimer’s Association to provide 24/7 care and support and advance research toward methods of prevention, treatment and, ultimately, a cure.
