JROTC Inside Edition

We are seeking to maximize JROTC student participation in internships as the Office of College and Career Success continues to partner with local businesses. These opportunities provide our students with critical real-world experiences that strengthen career exploration, inform postsecondary pathways, and increase their competitiveness and marketability across multiple fields of study.

As always, please ensure that all student participation and outcomes are accurately documented in SchooLinks to support tracking, reporting, and continuous improvement.

Respectfully Submitted,

Dr. Sims

I want to take this opportunity to share with you a couple of key issues that have been raised this past week.

The Citywide Drill Competition is scheduled for JAN 5, 2026. A new schedule has been posted and please take a few minutes to review your scheduled time. As mentioned during the huddle, we will be conducting the drill competition in a manner that will have cadets arrive, compete and then leave. It is expected that each school will be able to be completed in less than 2 hours. PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK THE SCHEDULE AND COORDINATE DIRECTLY WITH THE BUS COMPANY (Sunrise).

Please review Annex I in the OPORD regarding the conduct of the competition. We again are trying to mirror the National Standards. (Check your flag pole).

If you do not have a team competing, you are required to attend the PD class at Carver. Please bring your laptop and one of the sessions to be held will be on JUMS. Bring your roster, list of completed events and all data necessary to bring JUMS up to date.

Finally, we are entering the holiday season and I want to remind everyone that Drinking and Driving are not acceptable. It poses an unacceptable risk to yourself, your family and other innocent people that will be on the roads. Mental Health is an issue that tends to increase symptoms during this season. Keep an eye on each other and if you see something- SAY SOMETHING!

Remind your cadets about safety and I look forward to seeing everyone on 5 Jan, 2026.

Merry Christmas.

Respectfully Submitted,

LTC Zimmerle

I've mentioned this before but it bears worth repeating. We are in the final stretch before Winter Break commences! Only four school days and a wake up remain. Let's give it one final push for students to make up missing assignments, complete finals and post grades within the specified deadlines. Let's also work together to keep our cadets actively engaged during the final few days as idle minds tend to gravitate towards other activities that are not consistent with the Military Model.

If you have not done so already, please review the PSMA/Chicago CLDSTEM Workshop opportunity. This is an excellent opportunity for our cadets to explore the world of STEM with our West Point Military Academy partners. Thank you for all that you do!

Respectfully Submitted,

MAJ Striverson

Former Cadet Robert Taylor recently returned home to Harlan HS to share his experiences with post secondary life.

Morgan Park would like to thank COL(R) Dr. Nick Johnson for stopping by the Mustang Battalion to discuss Mental Health with the LET I s, wrapping up their Health curriculum. He also talked with Juniors & Seniors about ROTC opportunities at Chicago State University and the Psychology career field.

Congratulations to the Bowen HS Boilermakers for achieving significant growth since the beginning of SY2025-2026. The program reported that their enrollment has grown from 28 cadets to 60 cadets since August! The program also reports that 11 of their cadets are in the top 10% in their respective graduating classes. Continue to reach for the stars Boilermakers! 🏆🏆🏆

The SIFMA Foundation, sponsor of The Stock Market Game, is excited to announce that King College Prep has a top team from the Fall 2025 game session:

First Place, Chicago High School Division (KCP JROTC Bubble Guppies)

In recognition of their achievement, each team member will receive an SMG medal and a banner for the classroom. In addition, the team gets a $100 AMEX gift card. Congratulations King College Prep! 🏆🏆🏆

Chicago Public Schools is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of every student. As a reminder, any individual working with CPS students in any capacity must complete the official CPS volunteer process. There are no exceptions.

Each year, all volunteers must reapply to maintain active status. This includes all branches of the military. When completing the application, military personnel must select the Department of JROTC to ensure proper routing and approval.

To maintain a safe and organized environment within our schools:

• Volunteers must follow clearly defined guidelines for entering CPS buildings or events.

• Access is limited to authorized areas only.

• Volunteers may engage solely with the group of students they are approved to support.

The Department of JROTC recently reinforced these expectations during a virtual meeting with the Commanders of Recruiters. A complete list of approved military volunteers will be shared with the Office of School Counseling and Postsecondary Advising (OSCPA) to facilitate cross-departmental coordination.

These procedures help ensure consistent standards and protect the integrity of our student programs. Thank you for your cooperation and continued commitment to CPS students.

Phoenix STEM Military Academy, in partnership with the United States Military Academy at West Point, is pleased to announce that they will be hosting a CLDSTEM Workshop on Friday, 16 January 2026, from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM at PSMA.

This collaborative event brings together professionals, researchers and cadets to engage students in dynamic, real-world engineering and scientific exploration. Participants will work directly with Army engineers and West Point cadets as they investigate modern challenges, apply critical thinking and experience the power of STEM through interactive activities designed to inspire the next generation of leaders. PSMA Principal Jones would like to extend this opportunity to all military academies and traditional programs. A total of 105 seats are available:

• 10 seats per military academy

• 5 seats per traditional program

The target audience is GL-9 and GL-10 students that may have an interest in attending a Service Academy and/or students that have an interest in STEM. As you know, our educational landscape continues to move toward a STEM focused future. This is a high profile event. Please take this into consideration when developing your participant rosters. The uniform for the event will be the Class A. Schools intending to have cadets participate in the event should:

1. Email SFC Michael Walker (mewalker2@cps.edu) copying both Principal Ms. Marquita Jones (mojones@cps.edu) and AP Mrs. Tobias (stobias@cps.edu).
2. Complete/Submit with each participating cadet the West Point registration page. The deadline for registration is Friday 9 January 2026.
3. Email completed CPS media consents to AP Mrs. Tobias at (stobias@cps.edu).
4. Bring/turn in original copies of the CPS media consent on the day of the event to AP Mrs. Tobias.

Each program is responsible for arranging their own transportation, for coordinating chaperones and for entering the transportation requests in Oracle for approval. Cadets will be able to eat lunch in the PSMA cafeteria and are also able to bring their own sack lunch if so desired. Media Consent forms are attached. An informational flyer is also attached. It is my understanding that cadets should not have random access to the QR code that is embedded on the flyer.

Please reach out to the aforementioned hosts with questions or concerns.

Registration link for the Clemente HS Wildcat Shootout on 10Jan2026. SFC Lewis is the POC for this event.

Team Lodging: The team lodging booking link is currently active. The event partner has blocked rooms for our teams. The link is: Hotel Reservation Link

Volunteer Instructor Travel: Once G8 creates the LOA, volunteer instructors can book travel but skip lodging as JROTC HQs has blocked rooms at the Holiday Inn just south of the venue. Once the hosts all the names, the host will coordinate directly with them on execution timeline.

Additional information can be found at: https://www.robotevents.com/robot-competitions/vex-robotics-competition/RE-V5RC-25-0198.html#general-info

The 3rd BDE Drone Competition is approved and open for registration in REC Foundation. So far, the following schools registered: Camdenton (4), Hillcrest (3), Nixa (3), SRTC (4), and KC East (2).

The deadline for BDE teams to register is 22 JAN 26. Since it is an invitational event, coaches need to email the team registration numbers they want to enter the competition. Here is the link to the event: https://recfevents.org/#/admin/events/31

Mission: Marine Leadership Academy (MLA) will host an “Aerial Drone Competition” on Saturday, 13 December 2025 from 0800 to 1400 at The Marine Leadership Academy, 1920 N Hamlin Ave Chicago IL 60647. In order to promote the STEM skills like piloting, coding, and engineering among the other JROTC programs.

Registration fee: $75.00 per school.

Three categories: Speed course, obstacle course, coding course.

Concession stand: Bring cash- Pizza, chips, soda, water, etc...

Registration link: https://forms.gle/XxSr6CXMQh9gfiaT9

Suspense - Army Programs: 25Feb2026

This essay will be used for the Army programs to meet the Cadet Command Army Essay annual requirement. Submit your "best" essay to SFC Cunningham NLT than the suspense date.

Supporting documents can be found in the Control Panel, Army Essay Folder.

Link to JROTC Control Panel

Dr. Tyese Sims - Executive Director
LTC Steven Zimmerle - Director of Military Instruction

MAJ Michael Striverson - Deputy Director of Military Instruction

MAJ Lancelot Lashley - Logistics Manager

CSM Ricardo Medina - Instructional Specialist

SFC Loretta Cunningham - Instructional Specialist

MSG Cleris Heggs - Hiring Manager

Kurt Jackson - Operations Manager

Shaward Singleton - Sr. Inventory Management Clerk

Marcus Thomas - Inventory Management Clerk

Website: https://www.chicagojrotc.com/
Location: 145 S. Campbell Chicago, IL 60612
Instagram: CPSJROTC

Twitter: @CPSJROTC