Local JROTC cadets return from national competition

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Cadets from Broome High School have a reason to proudly celebrate. The team returned home Wednesday evening from Washington, D.C. After competing in the 2022 National JROTC Academic Bowl.

Four students, all rising juniors, and their instructor made the trip.

School officials tell FOX Carolina 582 Air Force JROTC academic teams compete globally. However, only 17 made it to the national level.

The competition tested the cadets knowledge on various topics like core curriculum, current events, religion, financial literacy, and much more.

“It wasn’t just military, JROTC related, they had to know a little bit of about everything,” said Major Rod Camp, the schools program instructor.

“It takes a lot of studying and strategy,” Brayden Eubanks said, a student at BHS. “Kind of like jeopardy; we sat at tables, we had buzzers. We would buzz-in to answer questions as fast as possible.”

A small but joyous crowd gathered at the Daniel Morgan Technology Center to welcome the students home from their journey.

Among them was parent Jennifer Buell, it was emotional seeing her daughter in uniform and knowing everything the students had accomplished.

“They did such phenomenal job. My only regret is I couldn’t go see them do it in person,” the mother said.

Her daughter, Emily Buell, was excited to participate. FOX Carolina asked her about the questions asked during the competition.

“I remember a question about Dr. Seuss,” Emily said. “It was a book about a boy who owns 500 hats, and I knew the answer was Bartholomew Cubbins because momma read me every single book. We have every Dr. Seuss Book.”

“We were number six in the nation, and we are the number one team in the state of South Carolina,” Eubanks said.

Although they didn’t bring home the top prize, their hard work certainly paid-off.

“They compliment each other wonderfully; they communicate great and we played some really great, smart teams from other schools,” Camp said.

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