NJROTC joined together to celebrate the accomplishments from the past year through awards on Wednesday, May 4. The awards varied from educational, highest GPAs, rifling, color guard, consistent uniform wearing, most reliable, hardest worker, and a plethora of others. Commander Joel Reeves honored everyone from the freshmen to seniors for their hard work they put into this past year.

“It was special, let’s just say that. I got to watch the younger cadets who have been working hard for 3 years now get the high positions they have wanted  and it’s nice to be able to pass the torch onto them,” graduating senior Austin Birchler said about his last honors night.

At the end of the ceremony the cadets received promotions to new positions replacing the senior cadets. “I’m excited for the new staff to have a good and exciting year, so we can get a 4 year national championship and continue to have an outstanding year,” new Commanding Officer junior Angel Maldanado said.

Birchler advises the younger cadets who will replace the graduating leaders of NJROTC for the upcoming school years. “They’ve been trained well, and they need to not forget how they’ve been trained. If they do what we have always taught them and work smart, they will be successful in everything they do with the unit.”

The JROTC unit enjoyed their time at Honors Night, packed with a memory-filled slideshow, laughs and cheers.  “I think it sets us up well for next year,” Reeves said.