While most high school students are relaxing during the summer, the cadets of Michigan City High School (MCHS) Marine Corps Junior Reserve Training Corps (MCJROTC) are supporting the Michigan City/La Porte County community by supporting many of the activities held in June, July and August. Thus far this summer, the cadets have supported the following functions:
Collecting goods to be sent to military personnel overseas;
Clean-up of Routes 421 and 6 as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program;
Working the Drum and Bugle Corps Pageant at Ames Field as part of the Michigan City Summer Festival;
Color Guard for the Michigan City Independence Day ceremony at Washington Park;
Color Guard and Marching Platoon for the LaPorte 4th of July parade;
Color Guard and Marching Platoon for the Michigan City Summer Festival parade.
Cadets will also be providing support for the Michigan City Grand Prix boat races at Washington Park on August 2d and 3d and for the Michigan City Area Schools Back- to-School rally on August 14th.
These activities are in addition to the summer camps the cadets are attending. Cadets have already attended a Basic Leadership Camp at the Ransburg Boy Scout Reservation in Bloomington, IN, and a Senior Leadership Camp at the St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, WI. The final camp of the summer will be a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) camp July 14-20, also at the St. John’s Military Academy. These camps are conducted at no cost to the school district or the cadets. They are primarily funded by the Marine Corps, with augmentation from the MCJROTC Booster Club and other fundraising.
“Our cadets are enthusiastic about supporting our community,” said Senior Marine Instructor Major Tom McGrath. “Northwest Indiana is a great place to live, and all of these events show the vitality of our community,” he said.
McGrath also commented on the drive of the MCJROTC cadets to improve themselves, to become leaders in the community and beyond. “These summer leadership camps are allowing cadets to go beyond the practical application of the leadership concepts we teach during the school year. This past school year, we had two cadets earn the very competitive ROTC college scholarships worth $180,000 to each cadet. One cadet will be attending Purdue University in Lafayette, the other will be attending Loyola University in Chicago. I think that shows the high quality education our students receive at Michigan City High School,” he said.
