Leadership program helps ‘bring out the best’ in Bibb County students

The students stood with their feet together and hands clasped behind their back. As 1st Sgt. Alvin Thomas went through roll call, they answered “here, sir” and took their seats quietly.

It’s a daily scene inside Junior Leadership Corps classes at Rutland Middle School. The program, a precursor to Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, is now in four Bibb County middle schools.

It began at Rutland and Ballard-Hudson last year and expanded to Howard and Weaver this year, said Cassandra Washington, the district’s career, technical and agricultural education director. The district will bring it to the two remaining middle schools, Appling and Miller, if the principals are interested, Superintendent Curtis Jones said.

All of Bibb’s high schools have JROTC, with Air Force programs at Westside, Southwest and Howard, Marines at Rutland and Army at Central and Northeast. Junior Leadership Corps has a broader curriculum that focuses on character education and core values.

“It’s not about recruiting kids (to the military), but it’s about building student leaders,” Washington said. “You really want kids to start thinking about that early. It allows kids to really understand what career path they could take or how being a great individual will allow you to do well in life.”

Thomas retired from the Marines in 1994 after 21 years of service. He taught JROTC programs for 22 years before becoming JLC instructor at Rutland Middle.

Thomas and principal Richard Key saw a need for a middle school leadership program and pitched JLC to Jones and the school board, Thomas said. Jones said he was interested because of his prior experience. A retired lieutenant colonel in the Army, he previously taught Senior ROTC at Albany State College and JROTC at Griffin High School.

“If middle school is a place where parents have some concerns about discipline and safety, we need a core group of students that can build school morale and school spirit and provide that discipline. I thought (JLC) was a way,” Jones said. “Because it is a pathway that we have that goes all the way through high school, I thought it would be in line with the work that we’re doing.”

Washington said high school is sometimes too late to reach students. The Junior Leadership Corps is a way to intervene earlier in their lives and keep them from developing records that will limit their futures, Thomas said.

As an elective Connections class, students participate for a semester or full year and multiple years if they wish, Washington said.

JLC teaches self-confidence, time management, positive relationships, making wise decisions and being healthy through physical fitness. Students wear their black and khaki uniforms once a week, do community service, present colors at events, go on field trips and mentor other students.

Rutland Middle has 125 participating students in sixth through eighth grades, Thomas said. On Thursdays and Fridays, they do speed and running drills for physical training days.

“You can see the talent in these kids at a young age. This is an additional asset or tool they have to bring out the best in them,” Thomas said. “They gravitate to this (program) because it’s something new for them. They want someone to steer them in the right direction.”

The program gives students a sense of leadership, responsibility, commitment and discipline, he said. It’s a way for students to be a part of a team and an opportunity for them to solve problems, Jones said.

Jones hopes the JLC program will strengthen JROTC programs at the high schools and help improve discipline and attendance at the middle school level.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Leadership program helps ‘bring out the best’ in Bibb County students."