Auburn High School JROTC Team Competes in National Academic Bowl Championship

For the first time in Auburn High School history, Army JROTC student cadets competed in the U.S. Army JROTC Academic Bowl Championship.

The Auburn JROTC Academic Team – made up of team captain Veronica McLean, plus cadets Eric Larson, Sean Beckford and Cristian Argueta – competed in the championship June 24-28 on the Catholic University of America campus in Washington, DC. The cadets competed in nine matches and ranked in the top 49 of more than 3,300 U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy teams. They gained experienced that will be valuable toward a championship run next year.

Through all the obstacles students have faced over the last two years, the cadets rose to the challenge through their participation in the 2021-2022 JROTC Leadership & Academic Bowl. The cadets have proven their ability to overcome and succeed despite those obstacles. To advance to the national competition, the cadets advanced through two intense phases of online competition and earned top scores of the 1,942 teams that competed worldwide. The team was one of only 32 Army JROTC Academic Bowl teams in the nation to advance to the final competition, which included an all-expense paid trip to the event. During the two fast-paced preliminary rounds, cadets were tested on their knowledge of core curriculum such as math, science and language arts, as well as current events, citizenship, leadership skills and financial literacy.

The JROTC Leadership & Academic Bowl is a nationally recognized competition created exclusively for JROTC students. By participating, cadets learn the values of citizenship, academic competition and college opportunity. The competition creates tremendous opportunities for JROTC cadets by allowing them to demonstrate leadership and academic abilities.

The event was sponsored by the U.S. Army Cadet Command and conducted by the College Options Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the academic development of high school students and assisting them in their preparation for higher education. Using academic competitions, college exam study guides, college admissions tutorials and personalized counseling, the College Options Foundation has assisted the nation’s JROTC cadets worldwide for nearly two decades.

Congratulations to these outstanding students!

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Christopher McMullen

Christopher McMullen is the Army JROTC instructor at Auburn High School.