Cape students win top honors at JROTC JLAB regional competition

Cape Henlopen High School’s JROTC JLAB team won first place in the recent regional JLAB competition in both the leadership and academic competitions for the third year in a row. Both of Cape’s teams secured top honors against a field of 1,500 other JLAB teams across the country.

The two teams have qualified to attend the national championship Friday, June 24 to Tuesday, June 28, in Washington, D.C. School district JROTC units are allowed one academic team and one leadership team consisting of four cadets each; they may be freshmen, sophomores or juniors. Seniors may not participate on the team.

The academic challenge competition consists of questions from both the SAT and ACT tests. Each team member takes an individual 25-question test and the top aggregate scores advance to the national competition. The leadership team answers a slate of questions based on the JROTC leadership curriculum

Cape JLAB team members include David Collord, Nicole Surface, Esly Marin-Landa, Almita Ramirez. Stephen Lee, Dustin Benton, Jake Siranides, and Brian Gray. Senior coaches Alexandra Atisidis and Olivia Baratto led the teams. The teams have spent the entire school year studying and preparing for this competition.

Their coach, Sgt. Richard Hurt, says, "Have you ever noticed the smartest/brightest students are right in front of you as long as we provide purpose, direction and motivation? These students have worked hard all year, and the efforts have been rewarded. They are excited to represent the Mid-Atlantic region in the national championship in June.”