This year, our very own NJROTC has hit the ground running! We’ve won several competitions, and can’t wait to keep our streak going as the year progresses. So, with that being said, here’s a recap of NJROTC’s first quarter of the 2025-2026 school year.

We started our competition season with orienteering this year, traveling to Casumett State Park in Long Island, our cadets raced through the woods on various trails. Competing against severaldifferent schools, we placed as follows:

• 1st Place on the Varsity Course – Derek Miller, Ethan Cruz, Luca Borneman, and Riley Borneman
• 2nd Place on the Varsity Course – William Mattson
• 1st Place on the JV Course – Samantha Sanchez and Meylin Coronado
• 2nd Place on the JV Course – Johann Mojica

A little over a month later, three of our best cadets traveled to Mount Lakes Camp in North Salem to compete in the Hudson Valley Orienteering Meet against other JROTC schools from different forces; Air Force and Army. Cadets William Mattson, Riley Borneman, and Anthony Borja finished in first place on the varsity course. A great start to our orienteering season!

Throughout the year, NJROTC is known for making its guest appearances at colorguards around the school and community. This year, we marched at parades for the Brewster Fire Department Parade, the Putnam County Parade, and the Columbus Day Parade in Mahopac. We have performed color guards for ceremonial events as well. This year, our color guard made an appearance to represent the flag at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony, along with the National Junior Honor Society in Henry H. Wells Middle School. We also performed color guards for various sports events during the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance. Our color guard marched at all of our home football games, mixed varsity and JV soccer games, and the homecoming pep rally. We’ve also shown our patriotism through colorguards at the Grin N’ Bear Event, where our very own teacher ran a 5K, and at the Putnam County Relay for Life.

While on the topic of ceremonial events, we had many of our cadets go to New York City on September 28th to take part and show our patriotism at the Tunnels for Towers Event. This event is one that occurs annually, remembering all those who lost their lives in 9/11 and in the wars that followed. This event is a 5K run that retraces the final steps of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller, a hero who lost his life during the events on September 11, 2001. Stephen Siller was off duty when the attacks began on September 11th. He heard about the attacks, immediately drove to the Brooklyn Battery tunnel, and found it was closed. It was there that he grabbed his gear, and ran to the towers. The Tunnels for Towers event was created by Stephen Siller’s brother, to remember the sacrifices made that day and all the lives that were lost. It was an honor to have members from our NJROTC Program there to show our support.

Another win for NJROTC this year was the homecoming banner. Our very own Operations Senior Chief Samantha Sanchez worked tirelessly to develop an original idea to make our banner stand out amongst the rest. She dedicated weeks of hard work to hand draw and hand paint the banner, which took the lead when it came down to it at the pep rally, securing another 1st place win this year!

On October 15th, we had the families of many cadets come together for a potluck dinner in order to create new bonds and develop the familial energy that NJROTC tends to radiate within the program.

Being a member of NJROTC has so many advantages, with one of them being the many guest speakers we bring in from different branches and backgrounds—all of them with different stories to share. So far this year, three guest speakers have come to visit our unit. We had a member of the United States Navy Reserves (USNR), Lieutenant Commander Treutlein, came to talk to all of the classes about her experiences in the Navy along with her future plans. We also had members from the Army National Guard come to teach our cadets about the benefits of joining, the lessons you learn, and the memories you make. SFC Cowley (a current National Guardsman and our former XO)and Lizeth Estrada came to visit our school for another year. Finally, Petty Officer Cooper came from the Navy to persuade the cadets to apply for the Navy ROTC Scholarship by sharing all of the opportunities it presents, and to talk about life as a future Naval Officer.

On November 8th, we competed in our first drill meet of the season. Waking up at 5 a.m., we boarded the bus and began our journey to Washingtonville High School, preparing for a long day ahead. We competed in many different events, with all of our cadets putting their best foot forward in every event. We competed against other Navy schools along with Army and Air Force schools. At the end of the day, we placed as follows:

• 1st Place Varsity Unarmed Platoon
• 1st Place Varsity Armed Platoon
• 2nd Place NS1 Squad Drill Team 1
• 3rd Place NS1 Squad Drill Team 2
• 3rd Place Inspection

We couldn’t be any prouder of our cadets for their excellent performance on Saturday. I can’t wait to see what we achieve on November 22nd at our Bethel drill meet.

On November 10th, the NJROTC and Semper Fi Club put together a ceremony to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Marine Corps joined us in the morning to guide us through the ceremony, reading a message from General Lejeune before leading us through a brief history of several uniforms worn during the different wars from our history. After bringing the cake to center stage, the Commander of Troops, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Ford PhD Marine Retired, sliced the cake with a special ceremonial sword as our Operations Officer, Chasiti Bobet-Diaz, asked for the youngest Marine and the oldest Marine to join us on the stage, along with our Guest of Honor, Mrs. Teri Schumacher, to provide them with cake as a part of our ceremony. This concluded our ceremony. Happy Birthday Marines!

The cadets in Brewster NJROTC have been arriving at the school at 6:30 a.m. every morning and leaving at 5 p.m. most evenings. They have been all across the school and Brewster community spreading their patriotism and enthusiasm. Our unit has great things planned for the rest of the school year and we can’t wait to see what new trophies we’ll earn and how many new memories we’ll make.

Hoo-rah!