WCHS JROTC Awards Ceremony

The White County High School JROTC conducted their annual Award ceremony on April 17, 2025. This was conducted at WCHS, in the auditorium, at 5 p.m.

The award ceremony is an annual event where the cadets are recognized for outstanding achievement during the entire year. Many local organizations took time out of their day to present well-deserving awards to our cadets. This was the highlight of the hard work and dedication they performed throughout the year. Some of the key awards that were given were the Superior Cadet award, which is the highest award that we can give for outstanding dedication, academic achievement, and leadership. We give one award per grade level, and the recipients of this award were freshman Cadet Nikkyah Dodson, Sophomore Cadet Lindsay Richmond, Junior Cadet Morgaine Boyd, and Senior Cadet Casey Geer. Another major award is the Senior Army Instructor award that is the second highest award given and recipients of this award were Freshman Cadet Bryson Burchett, Sophomore Cadet John Hawco, Junior Cadet Kayla Shepherd, and Senior Cadet Truman Wright.

One of the most important awards is recognized by the principal. Mr. Greg Wilson presents his award to a deserving junior within the program that has done great things, not only for JROTC, but for the entire school. This prestigious award was given to Cadet Morgaine Boyd. Another of our most important awards is the Academic Excellence Medal which is given to a cadet in each grade that has the highest overall grade average. The winners were Freshman Cadet Calleigh Loudermilk, Sophomore Cadet Lindsay Richmond, Junior Cadet Kayla Shepherd, Senior Cadet Jayden Keith. Many other awards were given to cadets from members of the community.  Awards such as American Legion award, Scottish Rite, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the Union, Sons of the Union Veterans, and Daughters of 1812 among others were presented. The cadets that were recognized were Cadet Andrew Merritt, Cadet Alexis Jones, Cadet Lillian Hurst, Cadet Iceis Campbell, Cadet Chloe Anderson, Cadet Jayden Keith, Cadet Dillon Hutson, Cadet Carson McLeod, Cadet Dravin Margeson, Cadet Caden Shockley, and Cadet Mason Lofton.

Our program also completed its physical fitness awards, and we had three cadets achieve the highest standards. Two completed each event and achieved 50% in every category. The two individuals were Cadet Truman Wright and Cadet Lindsay Richmond. We also had one cadet complete every event and achieve an 85% in each event. That Cadet was Cadet Nikkyah Dodson.

During our dinner, we also said goodbye to six cadets who will be graduating this year. The cadets graduating received a JROTC Stole which they will wear on graduation night. Each cadet will also receive a graduation cord to wear. The cadets we are losing are Cadet Casey Geer, the Battalion Commander, Cadet Truman Wright, The Executive Officer, Cadet Jayden Keith, the Special Projects Officer, Cadet Ashton Parks, The Battalion Sergeant Major, Cadet Zachary Isabell, the S2 Officer, and Cadet Isaiah Dallwein.

The highlight of our evening was our Change of Command ceremony. This marked the changing of leadership and staff positions for next year. We would like to announce Cadet Morgaine Boyd as our new Battalion Commander for next year. Our Executive Officer will be Cadet Andrew Merritt. Our Battalion Command Sergeant Major will be Cadet Kayla Shepherd, and our Special Projects Officer is Cadet Alexis Jones. These cadets, along with the following staff members for next year, Cadet Carson McLeod, Cadet Christen Dowdy, Cadet Lindsay Richmond, Cadet John Hawco, Cadet Michael Brown, and Cadet Lillian Hurst, have worked very hard to achieve their respective positions for next year. We would also like to recognize our Company Commanders, Cadet Jordan Brandenburg, Cadet Chloe Anderson, and Cadet Caden Shockley, as well as Cadet Bryson Burchett, Cadet Dravin Margeson, and Cadet Nikkyah Dodson as our First Sergeants

In conclusion, SFC Moore and I would like to thank all our cadets, their families, and especially our administrators and school board members for all their support in making this year a success for everyone. We look forward to our 2025/2026 school year and witnessing our cadets flourish and improving the JROTC for years to come.