Welcome to the third NJROTC Report of the year—another quarter where our cadets somehow managed to stay busy almost every week. From competing at the NS1 Drill Championships to navigating the wilderness at Orienteering Nationals and piloting at the Drone Championships, Brewster NJROTC has been everywhere. Between competitions, practices, and the occasional moment of confusion about left and right, cadets have continued to represent the unit with hard work, teamwork, and plenty of determination. Here are some of the highlights from this packed quarter.
We started out strong at the NS1 Drill Championships, traveling to Notre Dame High School in Utica, New York. After a long, stressful, and vigorous day competing in a variety of drill sequences and tests, we finally received the results; placing third overall in our Armed Squad led by Gia DiBenedetto. Continuing our winning streak, we placed 2nd in both the Academic portion and Physical Fitness portion. While on the topic of fitness, we had several cadets receive some of the top scores for each individual fitness event. For push-ups, cadets Madelyn Asante, Giovanni Jacinto, and Gianna Carpanzano were awarded medals for being the top scorers. For sit-ups, cadets Martin Sauca (3rd Overall for Males) and Gia DiBenedetto (2nd Overall for Females) were awarded their respective medals. At the end of the day, everybody is proud of how well they did and we have built a stronger family together.
Switching focus to our Orienteering team, we had 10 of our top orienteerers travel to Gainesville, Florida for a week to compete in the Nationals. The cadets who competed are as follows; Orienteering Commander William Mattson, Derek Miller, Danna Hernandez, Kevin Ramos, Riley Borneman, Luca Borneman, Emma Plouffe, Johann Mojica, Anthony Borja, and Marcos Chinchilima. This was a huge deal for the entire unit, to be able to compete in Florida on behalf of our entire area is something that will forever remain in our Brewster history. From March 12-16th, our dedicated cadets ran through difficult trails and dangerous obstacles all while competing to get the fastest time. After one day of practice and two gruesome days racing through the courses under the brutal sun, the team was granted an extended stay until the 19th due to a flight delay, earning themselves a couple days to relax in the glorious Florida heat.
NJROTC is known for its wacky fundraising efforts each year. This year was definitely something to gawk at. We partnered with Domino’s Pizza to create a deal that is simply to die for. The cadets in Brewster’s NJROTC unit have been working tirelessly to sell the Slice The Price pizza cards, these cards were sold for $20 each from March 13 until March 26. They work until the end of the year and for every one large pizza you buy, you get another free. For every cadet that sells 15 cards, they earn a t-shirt and a ribbon, and the top 10 cadets who sell the most cards earn a medal. The top 10 sellers are as follows;
- Nicholas Anderson – 192 Pizza Cards
- Brooklyn Scott – 169 Pizza Cards
- Dorian Solimano – 160 Pizza Cards
- Charleigh Scott – 159 Pizza Cards
- Olivia Jones – 62 Pizza Cards
- Tabitha Nieves – 58 Pizza Cards
- Riley Borneman – 57 Pizza Cards
- Hailey Tierney – 53 Pizza Cards
- Nathaniel Scott – 48 Pizza Cards
- Ethan Cruz – 47 Pizza Cards
I would also like to congratulate our Fourth Platoon, led by Platoon Commander Riley Borneman for receiving the highest participation in his platoon out of all 6 platoons! Congratulations to everyone in 4th platoon!
Our Drill and Orienteering teams aren’t the only ones advancing. Our Drone Team also received the opportunity to compete in the Drone Championships that were held on March 21st in New London, Connecticut. We sent 4 cadets to represent our Unit at this competition. The cadets were as follows; David Arias, Nicholas Anderson, David Chen, and Steven Alonzo. They competed in a total of five courses and an academic test, resulting in them placing third overall out of 10 schools in the Extinguish the Torch course. Making it here was a huge achievement for our drone team, and they built a strong foundation for next year’s team.
In addition to this, our rocketry team worked tirelessly to build a rocket from the ground up and be able to launch it for their competition, competing for the chance to go to nationals in May. Congratulations!
As this quarter wraps up, Brewster’s NJROTC Unit has stayed as busy as ever—marching, racing through forests, flying drones, and selling more pizza than we ever thought possible. Through all the chaos, and the occasional left-right confusion, cadets continued to work hard, support each other, and represent the unit with pride.
At this rate, the only thing we won’t be doing next quarter is sitting still. Stay tuned for the final ROTC Report of the 2025-2026 school year in the next issue!