UPDATED 0946, January 27, 2010

Second Quarter Ending. Cadets, as you probably are aware, the upcoming weekend has been extended by 2 days, Friday, January 29th, and Monday, February 1st. These days are the days that teachers will finish putting together your 2nd quarter grades. This weekend also marks the half-way point of the school year. Have a great weekend and a wonderful rest of the year. c/ SN Coyner, 1/28/10

Patuxent Drill/Academic Meet and UPI. This Saturday, January 30th, is the Patuxent Drill, UPI and Academic Meet. Drill Team is required to be at HHS by 1130 on Friday, January 29th, for practice. Academic Team is required to be at HHS by 1345 of that same day. All other cadets attending the Orientation Trip are required to be at the school by 1430. Do not be late; the bus departs from Herndon at 1500. After the meet is over, if you are not staying for the rest of the Orientation Trip, you will return to Herndon. Practice, practice, practice! Good luck! c/ SN Brundage, 1/25/10

Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As you probably know, Monday, January 18th was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This day celebrates and honors all of this great man's goals and achievements. He fought for equal rights for everyone and was part of the final push that succeeded in getting the government to create laws outlawing segregation of everything, from schools to water fountains; thanks to him, everyone was free to use the same facilities and be treated the same. Unfortunately, this great man was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. In his lifetime, he received a PhD in Theology, won a Nobel Peace Prize, and became a Baptist minister. We all wish that Dr. King was still alive, and wonder how much better the world would be with him still in it. So on your day off, we hope you took a moment to remember and reflect on all the great changes that Dr. King made during his lifetime. c/ SN Coyner, 1/21/10

King George Rifle Results. On Saturday, January 19th, the Herndon NJROTC Rifle Team went to King George High School to compete against some of the top rifle teams in the nation. With half of our top shooters at the Green Run Drill Meet, the Herndon Rifle Team stood strong and had fun. Great job, Rifle Team members, and keep up the good work. c/ PO3 Polk, 1/20/10

Green Run Results. Last Friday, the Drill Team departed HHS for an overnight drill meet at Green Run High School. Official results have not come back yet, but our team did not win. The Drill Team returned late Saturday night, and was exhausted upon arrival. Aside from the disappointing results, the team had a good time. The overnight trip was fun for our drillers. Congratulations for the hard effort our drillers put into their practice, and good luck at Patuxent next week! c/ SN Brundage, 1/20/10

Patuxent PT Recap. Last week, Herndon High School traveled to Patuxent High School for the Frostbite PT meet. We did great because every competitor pushed themselves to their limits. Cadet Kathleen Ratana won a medal for female curl-ups. Cadets Brianna Lowry and Anna Truong achieved 3rd and 2nd place, respectively, in individual female push-ups. Cadets Terrell Thigpen and Richard Fronczak both received medals for individual male push-ups. Cadet Adam Schalk received 3rd place in individual male curl-ups. Overall, the team placed 1st in the meet. Excellent job to all the cadets, and keep up the good work! c/ PO3 Polk, 1/13/10

Green Run Drill. On Saturday, January 16th, the Drill Team will be competing in the Green Run Drill and UPI Meet in Norfolk, Virginia. For this event, the team will leave the night before, traveling by motor coach. The cadets will then spend the night in the Sea Cadet barracks at NAVSTA Norfolk. The next day, the cadets will finish the drill competition at approcimately 1630, and depart for Herndon HS by about 1700. The team should arrive back at the school by 2100. Good Luck tto the Cadets competing! c/ SN Coyner, 1/12/10

Area Five Rifle Match. On Saturday, January 23, 2010, the Rifle Team will shoot at the Area Five STS match at Annapolis High School. This meet will be the last meet of the season, and one of great importance. Many different schools will be shooting at Annapolis for Area Five, including Hayfield, Patuxent, Paint Branch, and other schools. The match will take most of the day. Also, Rifle Team members, don't forget about your NRA Qualification sheets. If you have targets that count, be sure to clip them to the NRA sheet and place them in CDR's box in order to gain medals. Good Luck, Shooters! c/ SN Brundage, 1/12/10

Senior Profile: Mercedez Majano. Cadet Mercedez Majano is in her fourth year in Herndon High School's NJROTC program, currently holding the job of Female Assistant Supply Officer. Her career in the unit has been centered on working in Supply, moving up the ranks from being a Supply Clerk in her freshman year. NJROTC has had a big influence on her high school career, and after she graduates, she is planning on going to Northern Virginia Community College, and then joining the Marine Corps afterwards. She describes her four years with the program as great, challenging, fun, and a life-changing experience. Her most memorable moment in her NJROTC career was when the unit traveled to Pensacola, FL, for Navy Nationals, and she was able to spend time with the other girls who attended at the beach near the condo the unit was staying at. We here at Herndon NJROTC hope she had a great rest of the year and a great future. c/ PO3 Polk, 1/11/10

Patuxent PT Meet. This upcoming Saturday, January 9th, there will be a PT meet at Patuxent High School, in Maryland. Herndon's PT team will leave the school at 0700, and the meet will end at approximately 1600. Rest up and be prepared, mentally and physically. Practice your event at home in your spare time. Cadets should dress appropriately for the weather, and should wear their warm-ups. Good luck to all of our participating PT members! c/ SN Brundage, 1/6/10

Senior Profile: Jimmy Thomas. Cadet Thomas has had a long and eventful history in NJROTC. He has had a lot of jobs in the unit: he has been Finance Officer, Web Services Chief, and a Supply Clerk. He has been accepted into George Mason University, and plans to study computer science there. Although he has a lot of memories in JROTC, his most memorable one happened just last year on our annual Orientation Trip, when a Marilyn Monroe impersonator sang to him for his birthday on the bus, in front of all the cadets and adults. We hope he reaches his goals, and has more memorable moments to come. c/ PO3 Brundage, 1/4/10

Winter Break. Fairfax County Public Schools were canceled on December 21st, 22nd, and 23rd due to more than 20 inches of snow and ice. Because of this, students had a 15-day Winter Break, which delighted most students. On Monday, the 21st, some of the cadets went to the Harbor House retirement home to shovel out the cars and pathways. All of the work was appreciated greatly by the residents. We hope that everyone had an enjoyable break and happy holidays! c/ SN Coyner, 1/4/10

King George Rifle Match. The King George rifle meet will be on this Saturday, December 19, 2009. It will be held at King George High School, and the top eight Rifle Team members will be selected to go. All scored targets will contribute to your overall total score, including today's and Monday's practice. Good Luck, Rifle Team! c/ SN Brundage, 12/17/09

King George Drill Results. On Saturday, December 11th, the Drill Team mustered at school at 0515 for the trip to King George, Virginia, at their first meet of the year. Overall, the team placed 5th. In the unarmed events, we gained 1st place in standard and 2nd place in exhibition. In the armed events, the team placed 2nd in standard and 7th in exhibition. Placing 5th at our first drill meet of the season is no small feat, considering that most of the other schools participating in Drill had started their seasons over a month before we had. Excellent Job, Cadets! c/ SN Coyner, 12/15/09

PT Team Feature. Herndon High School NJROTC has many teams that cadets can participate in. Along with the Drill, Academic, and Rifle Teams, there is the PT (Physical Training) Team. The PT Team has been hard at work over the last weeks improving their scores for the next meets. Last year, our PT Team took the First Place trophy home from Area 5, on Little Creek Amphibious Base in Virginia. The team's CO and XO, cadets Lowry and Bentley respectively, are on their way to leading the PT Team to success. Good luck in achieving all your goals this year! c/ PO3 Polk, 12/10/09

King George Drill and UPI. On Saturday, December 12th, the Herndon NJROTC Drill season will officially start. The team has been preparing for 2 months for the beginning of the season. Their first meet will be at King George High School in King George, Virginia. We will be participating in the Armed and Unarmed Exhibition, Armed and Unarmed Standard, and Color Guard, for the Drill portion of the meet. We will also be participating in Personnel Inspection, which is worth half of the total points for our placing at the meet. Wish our team good luck if you see them in the halls in the next couple of days. c/ SN Coyner 12/10/09

Drill Team Special. For the past 3 weeks, the Drill Team has been arriving at school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, at 0555. They have been hard at work preparing for a drill meet next Saturday, at King George High School. The Drill Team consists of Armed and Unarmed Standard teams, as well as Armed and Unarmed Exhibition teams. Drill Team requires hard work, dedication, good bearing, and the will to practice. All of us here at Herndon NJROTC wish our Drill Team luck for the upcoming weeks. c/ SN Coyner 12/02/09

Senior Profile: Connor Williams. Cadet Lieutenant Williams has been with the HHS NJROTC program since his freshman year. He was most recently Cadet Company Commander of our unit. He has led the Academic Team in previouls years and is a top competitor on PT Team. As he prepares to leave HHS, he is applying - or soon will apply - to various colleges and universities, some of which are the US Naval Academy, Virginia Tech, Virginia Military Institute, and Notre Dame. He plans to complete a ROTC program at one of these universities and join the United States Marine Corps as an officer. He plans to major in Middle Eastern Studies and minor in Arabic Studies. He has also just obtained his Capitol Hill Internship. If he had to choose a career besides the USMC, it would be a government-oriented job, such as the CIA. In his spare time, he likes to hang out with his buddies and watch TV or sleep. His favorite moment in his four years in Herndon NJROTC is when the unit was at Nationals two years ago, and the unit had to stay at the beach an extra day. We wish him good luck, whichever path he chooses. c/ SN Brundage 11/19/09

Area Manager's Inspection. On Wednesday, November 18th, Captain Brian Gawne, the Professor of Naval Science at George Washington University, visited our school for our annual Area Manager's Inspection, otherwise known as AMI. For the inspection, the Captain brought a few midshipmen from GWU's NROTC unit to speed up the inspection, to the pleasure of many cadets. After the inspection, the Drill Team gave a demonstration of unarmed basic drill. Just before the Pass and Review, Captain Gawne gave a small speech including how he believes this is one of the best units in the area, and possibly one of the best units in the nation. The Captain said that he was impressed and that the inspection went very well. Good Job, Cadets! c/ SN Coyner 11/19/09

Thanksgiving Break. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast, which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. During this celebration they danced, talked, and played a few games. The tradition still lives on today, and many of us celebrate our own Thanksgivings in their own special ways. c/LT Singh remarked that over Thanksgiving break, he would be "sleeping." c/PO2 Thomas said that over the break, he would be attending wrestling practice - especially useful after Thanksgiving day! Whatever you and your family decide to do over the break, stay safe and warm, and have lots of fun! c/ PO3 Polk 11/19/09

Veteran's Day. As most of you know, November 11th is Veteran's Day. Veteran's Day is set aside by our government to honor veterans past and present. This day is an important date to remember, and a time to thank our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen. On Wednesday, don't forget to thank Commander and Senior Chief for their service in the Navy! c/ SN Coyner 11/9/09

Annapolis High School Rifle Match. On Saturday, November 7th, cadets Coyner, Polk, Frost, Brundage, Rush, Leshock, Taylor and Castillo traveled to Annapolis High School for a Shoulder-To-Shoulder rifle match. Herndon's team arrived about an hour early, and was in the second relay of shooting. All of the cadets believe that they did well, but we are waiting for the results of the match as of today. The cadets had fun traveling to Annapolis and also meeting other cadets from other schools at the meet. We here at Herndon NJROTC hope that our team scores high in the match! c/ SN Coyner 11/9/09

Senior Profile: Yorwen Teah. Cadet Petty Officer First Class Yorwen Teah is wrapping up her fourth year at Herndon High School. Cadet Teah has made friends and has had many great achievements throughout her four years. In her free time, Teah likes to keep up with the news on CNN. She is still undecided on what college she would like to attend, but has many ideas for her ideal career. Whatever she chooses to do, we wish her luck! c/ SN Brundage 11/5/09

Honor Flights . This past week, some of Herndon's cadets got a chance to meet some of America's veterans at the Dulles International Airport. The Honor Flights took place during school, and the cadets who participated in them had many stories to tell afterwards. The Honor Flights were not just an emotional experience for the veterans, but also for the Cadets who attended the event. This was a great opportunity and we hope it made a lasting impression. Mr. Cooper, HHS Principal, received the following letter:

To the Principal, Herndon H.S.

I just want to compliment the young men and women of the Herndon High School Junior ROTC unit who stood Flag and Honor Guard at the welcoming ceremony for the World War II veterans arriving at Dulles Airport yesterday. They were a credit to their school and community and gave honor and dignity to the occasion.

I was very impressed with their pride and professionalism in welcoming our WWII heroes and wish them much success and fulfillment in their future lives and endeavors.

Sincerely, Mrs. Gwen Wyttenbach, Annandale, VA

It just goes to show you that you never know who's watching you, so good job Cadets! c/ PO3 Polk and c/PO2 Thomas 11/5/09

Herndon Armed Exhibition On Youtube : The Armed Exhibition drill routine from the Gaithersburg drill meet can be viewed from this link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfoZDZw4fLU c/LT Pinillos 3/13/09