By: Reagan Morrow

Bellbrook’s JROTC has a team called JLAB for JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl which is an academic group that competes against other JROTC groups. As the teams compete against each other, the last 15 get sent to DC to finish the competition in June. 582 AF-JROTC academic teams competed to try to get to DC. This year Bellbrook JROTC made it into the top 15. Core members include juniors Ethan Bui, Cary Phillipson, Jacob Bent, and sophomore Annaleese Theodor, with freshman Kendra Schofield and sophomore Andrew Chiasson as alternates.

Members have to be a part of the JROTC program to be a part of JLAB. They go through a series of qualifying competitions that include tests taken individually and as a team. Questions cover language arts, math, and science in each level of the competition. There are also JROTC curriculum questions that focus primarily on leadership preparation, wellness and fitness, group/team dynamics, and communication skills. A few questions
about current events are also included – focusing on national and international news, particularly international relations, politics, business, and science.

“I like being able to work as a team, we study and work together to figure out what we need to know.”

Annaleese Theodor

Over the four-day period in late June, Bellbrook’s team will be competing with the other 15 groups to try to make their way closer to 1st place.