'Give Kids A Chance And They Can Do Anything'

The students in Pottstown High School’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program were young children when the U.S. was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. While the event changed the way they would grow up and view the world, JROTC gives them a strong foundation to carry forward.

Over 16 years ago, retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Donald MacNeil helped establish an Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Pottstown High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. 

JROTC is a federal program backed by the U.S. Armed Forces in high schools across the nation.

Over the summer, this year’s Pottstown JROTC class practiced marching and other skills.

“They’re here on their own time,” MacNeil said of students -- most are from Pottstown and some come from nearby Pottsgrove School District -- who dedicated summer hours to the program prior to the start of the school year. JROTC is an elective class such as music or art.

One of the summer activities included blindfolded students who were given instructions by their classmates on how to kick a ball through a goal. 

“It teaches them to trust each other … follow commands and to think ahead,” said MacNeil, who served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force as a linguist and broadcaster. Retirement from the U.S. military is an initial requirement to become a JROTC instructor.

“We teach them teamwork, coordinated effort and listening,” he said. “We don’t care if they go into the military … We’re not even allowed to suggest that to them.”

The students also learn about aerospace, public speaking and science.

Overall, the JROTC program teaches students the value of mutual and self respect. Instructors treat students equally and refer to them by their title and surname. 

“We watch how they grow, how they get better,” MacNeil said. “Give kids a chance and they can do anything.”

MacNeil said the events of Sept. 11, 2001 changed the way JROTC students view the world.

“They (understand) the world is a dangerous place,” he said. “When those planes crashed into those twin towers, everybody said, ‘Oh my God this can happen to us.’ So, the kids are a lot more focused, more serious." 

But the JROTC vision has remained consistent. 

“If it were up to me, every student would go into JROTC,” MacNeil said. “It would give them a good sense of values … to start believing in themselves.”