GARLAND, TX–The ILTexas Garland High School Marine Corps JROTC (MCJROTC) will be heading to nationals this summer to compete in the annual JROTC Leadership & Academic Bowl (JLAB) held in Washington D.C. 

The four-day all-expense paid trip takes place June 24-28 at the Catholic University of America. With only eight spots reserved for nationals, the ILTexas GHS cadets faced steep competition ultimately placing third out of all MCJROTC high schools in the nation during finals to get the coveted spot. The competition will consist of a college-bowl game-show style format with buzzers included. Cadets will answer SAT/ACT test questions in a short amount of time based on subjects ranging from math, science, and language arts to financial literacy. The winning MCJROTC team will then compete in a four-way competition with winning teams from the Air Force, Navy, and the Army JROTC Academic Championships.

According to the United States Army website, JLAB is a “nationally recognized academic competition created exclusively for JROTC students,” and by participating, the cadets “learn the values of citizenship, leadership, academic competition, and college opportunity.” 

This is the first time cadets will be advancing to nationals after just two years of competing. This year's ILTexas GHS team includes juniors James Tran, Eryn Jeon, Esther Folorunso and freshman Joy Okunade.

For Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Fears,  the senior marine instructor at ILTexas GHS, the cadets advancement to nationals is a great accomplishment. 

“I am very proud and excited for our MCJROTC academic team to be selected,” he said. “The fact that our cadets earned top scores out of the 108 Marine Corps JROTC academic teams around the world is very impressive. This is a great achievement both for the cadets and the outstanding ILTexas GHS teachers.” 

Learn more about the Marine Corps JROTC program at ILTexas here.