The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

The Student News Site of Mililani High School

Trojan Times

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Cadets learn strength, teamwork from JROTC regatta

By Cadet Captain Timothy Schiller
(Photo courtesy of Cadet Captain Timothy Schiller) (L-R): Jordan Layug (9), Jimmie Paeste (10), Timothy Santoro (9), Jeremiah Jan Domanguera (11), Skyler Robinson (12), Ethan Quintoa (9), Angel Baeza (9), Andrew Garcia (10), Timothy Schiller Jr. (10), Brandee Schiller (12).
(Photo courtesy of Cadet Captain Timothy Schiller) (L-R): Jordan Layug (9), Jimmie Paeste (10), Timothy Santoro (9), Jeremiah Jan Domanguera (11), Skyler Robinson (12), Ethan Quintoa (9), Angel Baeza (9), Andrew Garcia (10), Timothy Schiller Jr. (10), Brandee Schiller (12).

On Aug. 25, MHS Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) attended the sixth annual Na Koa Wounded Warrior Canoe Regatta at Hale Koa and Fort DeRussy Beach. Not only did the event serve as friendly competition between many different JROTC teams, it was also a way to honor and support combat veterans and their families.

“This event is about the service members and their families who sacrificed so much for our freedom we enjoy every day. It’s about caring for these special people and spending a day at the beach with them and in the water in a friendly canoe competition. We always enjoy going to Waikiki, we had great weather and (various Veteran organizations) provided our cadets with a truly memorable event, and it was a very positive and emotional experience for everyone,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Schiller.

The Trojan JROTC Cadets were placed into two teams for the canoe competition, which allowed them to understand the values of teamwork. Cadet Major Senior Skyler Robinson stated, “With paddling, you really get a sense of teamwork because if there’s one person that’s not in sync with everybody else, if that one person is not performing their job, because each seat has a different job, it really slows down the team so we really try to work on working together and being a team who is efficient and effective.”

This is the first competitive event for JROTC for the year and it captures the pulse of the battalion as it prepares for the upcoming events throughout the year. “It really helped me and some of the other people that are on the competition teams (see) who is going to show up and who works good with who and the canoe racing is a perfect example because it really shows who is in sync with other people and who has a good attitude while others don’t have such a good attitude and it really helps us get ready for the challenging year ahead,” said Cadet Specialist Junior Jeremiah Jan Domanguera.

The JROTC cadets participated in many challenges similar to the canoe regatta, such as the Waianae and Junior Warrior Challenges. Robinson stated, “There’s all these different athletic challenges and if you’re not working as a team, it’s going to be really hard (to get anything done).”

The regatta served as a kind of marking point in which the JROTC cadets saw where they stood and assessed what they needed to work on. “We look at it like our pre-season, we have an opportunity to go out there and get busy,” Cadet Major Senior Brandee Schiller said, “You can take a person that has never done it, now they have a little bit of experience and then they do it again later on in the year, that’s how we build it. We had some ninth graders out there with us because those are going to be the leaders in three or four years so that’s why we always got to train the younger cadets. You can’t just throw all seniors in there. I think that’s why we’ve been so successful in so many competitions. (It’s because) we have a good pick from a lot of different athletes.”

Brandee Schiller plans to attend next year’s regatta with college cadets if she is selected to join the senior Army ROTC Program at the University of Hawaii.

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