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Kanana Fou wins JROTC competition

[courtesy graphic]
blue@samoanews.com

In addition to winning the island-wide accounting competition for the second straight year, the Kanana Fou High School Stallions took home top honors in the drill competition for the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC), also for the second year in a row.

The competition was held amongst cadets from all public high schools except Manu'a HS, whose students weren't able to make the trip.

According to retired US Army SFC Mark E. Time, who is also a JROTC instructor at KFHS, "the majority of the enrollment at Kanana Fou is in the JROTC with 95, to include 4 from our magnet school Pacific Horizons."

The drill competition was held at the Tafuna High School gymnasium on April 7th.

During the exciting showdown, cadets competed in four different categories:

  • ▪          Color guard competition (team of four cadets who handle the US and American Samoa flags during special events);
  • ▪          Exhibition (team of 9-12 who carry out rifle spins and coordinated moves with or without rifles); 
  • ▪          Inspection (team of 9-12 who undergo uniform inspections and are tested on various JROTC topics); and
  • ▪          Regulation (team of 9-12 who do all the marching).

"Teams compete on correct movements in accordance with established Army procedures, including unison, discipline and leadership abilities," SFC Time explained.

Kanana Fou's JROTC program was established in 2005 and this is the school's second consecutive drill competition win.

The private high school, which opened its doors in 1998 and administered by the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa (CCCAS), has a current total enrollment of 122 students.

Similar to other local high schools — both public and private — Kanana Fou has sent off many former students on scholarship to Wentworth Military Academy in Missouri.

But the 137-year-old school recently announced that it will be closing its doors for good by the end of this month, due to "waning enrollment, rising costs, and an aging campus."

Right now, Wentworth has 220 cadets boarded there, some of whom are from American Samoa, including Kanana Fou High School graduates.

When asked about the impact Wentworth's closure will have on the JROTC program at Kanana Fou, SFC Time said the announcement really hasn't affected KFHS students who are prepping to attend military colleges “since Wentworth enacted a transfer program for enrolled/accepted students to transfer to other academies like Georgia Military College and the New Mexico Military Institute.”

SFC Time revealed that five KFHS students have been accepted to Wentworth and are in constant contact with school officials for transitioning to other academies.

He said that while it is unfortunate that there are former Kanana Fou High School graduates who are currently enrolled at Wentworth and will have to move out once the school closes later this month, the situation does not affect current KFHS seniors who are getting ready to graduate.

"I had a talk with them and reiterated that the main goal that they should never lose sight and focus on, is getting into a post-secondary educational program and receiving that degree... wherever and however it may take them," SFC Time concluded.