JROTC is great addition to Cape high school

Cape Girardeau Central High School soon will have an Air Force junior reserve officer training corps program, or JROTC, on campus.

According to Marybeth Niederkorn's reporting, superintendent Neil Glass said the program is expected to have an enrollment of 100 students by next year.

The JROTC program will offer leadership training and teach discipline, including a fitness component. College scholarships are available as well to members.

As reader Bruce Skinner pointed out in a recent letter to the editor, the JROTC is "a transformative experience." According to Skinner, who participated in the program in St. Louis and is now associate vice president for student life at Southeast Missouri State University, these programs "bring topics such as historical and geopolitical issues involving the United States and the world to students."

This is quite an addition to the educational offerings at Cape Girardeau Public Schools.

A special thank you is in order to those who made it happen, including retired Air Force Col. Mike Goodin, who worked hard behind the scenes and met with high school principal Chris Kase and then-superintendent Jim Welker about the opportunity to bring the program to Cape Girardeau.