SQ and I spent a sunny and warm Saturday in the Presidio watching SFUSD's JROTC Spring 2009 competition. We are there to support my nephew, who is in Lincoln High School's Boys Flag Drill team.
The JROTC program has been under a lot of debate lately. Some argue that this program is too military-like, and is the Army's way to enlist. Supporters say that it is a program to teach kids about hard work, team spirit, etc. This issue got onto the Voter's ballot last November and residents got to vote whether the program should continue in public high schools. The public vote wanted it to stay, and most recently, SF's Board of Supervisors also voted to let this program remain in the curriculum.
Every year, there is the Spring competition held in the Presidio. All JROTC members practice day and night for this big day. It's kinda like the All-City finals for many of the Sports team. There are 3 main competition: the Drill team, the Boys Flag drill team, and the Girls Exhibition Drill team.
The Drill team - they just listen to commands and march. Judged for their unison and how they march.
The Boys Flag Drill team marches but also does tricks with their flags. They are judged on their unison and flag movements.
The Girls Exhibition team marches, sings a song, and does quick moves with their arms and hands.
My nephew is on the Flag team, which many years ago, used fake rifles instead of flags. You can imagine how quickly THAT went away...Lincoln High School's BDT finished 1st last year so there was some pressure to repeat the title. But... they won 2nd this year! :(
Here are the results:
Drill team: 1st_Washington, 2nd_Balboa; 3rd_Lowell
Boys Flag Drill team: 1st_Galileo; 2nd_Lincoln; 3rd_Lowell
Girls Exhibition Drill team: 1st_Lowell; 2nd_Lincoln; 3rd_Balboa
Overall team award: Lowell
I was there to support my alma mater as well - Lowell! Yeah!! Always loved to see the GDT perform. Glad to see that they repeated their title from last year!
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