SAIPAN Southern High School JROTC JLAB Leadership Team competed at the 2022 Army Leadership Bowl National Championships in Washington, D.C. from June 19 to 22, 2022.
The JLAB Leadership Team placed ninth, finishing ahead of 40 different other schools! The team also received the Col. Carlos R. Glover “Mega Hooah” Esprit de Corps Award! The JLAB cadets received this award twice! First ever JLAB Leadership award and the 5th, leaving them with two Esprit de Corps Awards! The Esprit de Corps is an award given to the team that shows a huge amount of effort put into teamwork, a great showcasing of spirit, and positivity within their team and people around them.
The JROTC award winning cadets are the following:
C/MAJ De Ramos, Mechaella
C/CPT Formalejo, Danielle
C/1SG Tuquero, John Lloyd
C/MSG Catindig, Matz
The JLAB team also won 1st Place in the H.O.T (High Order Thinking) Leadership category topic. The team’s knowledge based on Leadership Education Training levels 1-5 were quizzed on the day of the competition. Many terms such as multiple choice, matching words to images, and typing answers word by word, were all different terms included in the H.O.T category. The SSHS cadets competed on championship day, June 20, 2022, which took place on the campus of the Catholic University of America in Michigan, Washington, D.C.
“A once-in-a-lifetime experience that you shouldn’t miss out on. I am really surprised that we got into the top 10 but we deserve it after more than nine months of studying,” says C/MSG Catindig Matz. The cadets have been prepping for months before they took off for the championships and are all pleased about not just placing top 10 out of 40 other schools but also managing to win the Esprit De Corps Award once again!
“Getting into the mindset of winning was hard,” said C/1SG Tuquero John Lloyd . Although the team may have had their doubts throughout the competition, they were confident enough to be able to reach top 10.
Despite the challenges of the past few months of countless hours of studying, hard work, and time management, and all the obstacles they went through throughout their preparation, the team was able to overcome their struggles!
CSM (Ret.) Basa, the Saipan Southern High School Manta Ray Battalion senior Army instructor, commended the team for performing superbly in Washington, D.C.
The SSHS JLAB team received great support from their administrators in preparation for the competition. These include SSHS Principal Mr. Vince Dela Cruz, Vice Principal Ms. Arisa Sakai-Peters, and Ms. Mona Maratita.
SAI Basa also would like to thank the CNMI Board of Education, Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred Ada, Associate Commissioner for Administration Mr. Eric Magofna, and Senior Director for Student and Support Services Dr. Yvonne Pangelinan for their continued support.
In addition, SAI Basa would like to thank Mr. Mark Pratt and Mr. Antoine Hanes from 8th Brigade Headquarters, and Ms. Emily Donahue from the College Options Foundation for their support.
SAI Basa is likewise thankful to U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan and his staff for the awesome tour of the U.S. Capitol.
Thank you, too, to the local fans from the Washington, D.C. area, Mary Ann Cabrera Sablan, and her son Luke and Nicole Sablan for their support as well.
Lastly, the JLAB Team would like to thank their sponsor, Ms. Mel Mendiola, CWM Travel for providing their JLAB Team T-shirts for the competition.
SAI Richard Basa would like to give his utmost gratitude and appreciation to thank all the cadets, parents, and the team’s amazing chaperon, Ms. Genelin Camacho, for all the continuous support throughout the trip.
Congratulations again to Saipan Southern High School’s JROTC JLAB Leadership Team!
Cadets along with their chaperone and senior Army instructor pose for a photo up with U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan.
