Dear Sir,

I want to take this opportunity to thank the staff of the Daily Journal for supporting JROTC at Richmond Senior High School.

Throughout the school year our Cadets are involved in many community and sports activities. Afterwards they always look forward to seeing their pictures and articles in the paper.

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen the kids cut out and post the pictures and articles on our classroom bulletin boards or put them in their scrap books for future memories.

This is an additional motivator which helps to improve their self esteem and pride in their accomplishments. I am the coach of the JROTC rifle team. This year has been particularly successful. We won a total of 36 shooting trophies (12 team and 24 individual). Always the Daily Journal did a great job at recognizing their accomplishments. It is an extra award for the kids to read about their successes in the paper.

Again this helps to legitimize their accomplishments and fuels their motivation to do more. Ultimately this helps to keep them involved in school activities which contributes to their overall success.

Finally, I want to thank Ms. Olivia Webb for all of her attention she has given JROTC. As a reporter she covered our annual military ball, the awards ceremony and our home rifle match. The kids have come to know her and look forward to talking with her.

In January, the team had a great time talking to her after the match. Afterwards they adopted her as our 13th team member. She is a great credit to the Daily Journal and represents the small town values that is so important in our community. We hope she will continue to be a part of our JROTC program in the future.

Again, I want to that you for your support and contributions to JROTC at Richmond Senior High School.

Keep up the good work!

Randy Benton

JROTC Instructor First Sergeant (Retired)

Rockingham