Among the lessons learned in the Washington High School JROTC class, community service makes up a good portion of the curriculum. “Service above self,” likewise is the motto of the Washington (noon) Rotary Club, which recently recognized the WHS JROTC with a donation of $1,000 for its service during the club’s annual Smoke on the Water barbecue festival.

“They were out there both days, all day long,” said Smoke on the Water organizer Pamela Anderson. “They provided security, worked the gates and did everything and anything we asked them to do.”

All told, the JROTC provided 550 hours of volunteer service during the festival, just a slice of the 3,300 hours of service the group has notched throughout the year.

“We’re trying to motivate the kids to become better citizens,” said WHS JROTC Col. Jorge Bocanegra. “The model the Army gives us is to instill in the kids that motivation, and break the ice more or less, is by doing community service and showing them the difference they can make.”

Other activities of the JROTC cadets this year included feeding those in need after disasters, assisting with UNC-TV’s Rootle’s Block Party, volunteering with the Beaufort-Hyde Partnership for Children, visiting nursing homes and assisting numerous other civic and government organizations.

Bocanegra said some cadets, who come from economically disadvantaged situations, see through service that they have a lot to offer the community. Comparing freshman cadets to his seniors, Bocanegra says the difference between the two is clear after four years in the program.

“If you compare a freshman, who all they know how to do is, ‘Me, myself and I,’ and then our seniors, our seniors are outgoing, they will speak, they don’t have a problem speaking in public and they will relate to people,” Bocanegra said. “Regardless of their economic background, it is huge the amount of self-confidence and ability to communicate that they develop. They develop that by us letting plan and run these events and then represent the benefits.”

The funds raised from Smoke on the Water will be used to expand the students’ horizons through field trips, award ceremonies to reward them for volunteerism and service and a cadet military ball. For Anderson, as a Rotarian, seeing young people engaged in service offers hope that the tradition of serving others will continue on for future generations.

“We’re hoping we instill in them something that lasts a lifetime,” Anderson said. “We’re starting them out at their age so they can continue to do it when they’re our age.”