Navy Jr. ROTC Student News and Updates

Pictured are graduating senior cadets Steven Caballero of Westchester Academy, Luis Pineda of Memorial High, and Jacqueline Bustamante and Gillian Arroyo, both of Spring Woods High School. (Photo courtesy Guthrie-Spring Branch Navy Jr. ROTC)

These recent Navy Jr. ROTC program updates from The Guthrie Center include news about cadet graduations, orienteering team awards, and a recent tour of the Texas A&M University campus. Read more below:

Senior Cadets prepare for graduation and future

Thirteen senior cadets enrolled in Spring Branch ISD’s Navy Jr. ROTC program at The Guthrie Center will receive their diplomas during graduation ceremonies being held Saturday or next Tuesday, May 31.

Eight graduating cadets intend to enroll in college or universities, four are planning on enlisting in the U.S. military services, and one senior plans to work for one year and then begin college studies.

Graduating cadets include Steven Caballero of Westchester Academy, Luis Pineda of Memorial High, and Jacqueline Bustamante and Gillian Arroyo, both of Spring Woods High School. 

Steven Caballero and Luis Pineda plan on enrolling at the University of Houston. Jacqueline Bustamante intends to enroll at Prairie View A&M University, and Gillian Arroyo will attend Texas A&M University at Kingsville this fall. 

The Guthrie-Spring Branch ISD Navy Jr. ROTC program teaches self-discipline, self-confidence, personal responsibility and leadership skills that help all students successfully meet life’s challenges.

This elective course is open to all SBISD high school students.

Student Cadet Orienteering Team wins first place

Orienteering Team members, left to right, are Megan Olvera, Daisy Baltazar, Dennis Lopez and Pedro Quiroz. (Photo courtesy Guthrie-Spring Branch Navy Jr. ROTC)

Twenty-five student cadets with SBISD’s Navy Jr. ROTC program at The Guthrie Center competed recently in the fifth annual Magnolia Navy Jr. ROTC Deep Sea Meet, hosted by the ROTC program at Magnolia High School.

SBISD’s cadet orienteering team placed first in team orienteering. Team members from Northbrook High School included Pedro Quiroz, junior; Megan Olvera, sophomore; and Daisy Baltazar, freshman. Dennis Lopez, a Spring Woods High School freshman, was also a team member.

Pedro Quiroz also earned an individual first-place medal at this event.

Orienteering is a competitive sport in which participants use an accurate, detailed map and a compass to find points in the landscape in the quickest amount of time.

Fifteen cadets tour Texas A&M University and ROTC related programs

Top row, left to right: Mirna Cardenas (Northbrook High Class of 2014); Amber Evans, sophomore, Anthon Condon, junior, Chase Smesmy, sophomore, and Elijah Rodel, Justin Mendoza, and Joseph Castelli, juniors, all of Spring Woods High; Jonathan Rodriguez, sophomore, Northbrook High; and Cynthia Guiterrez, junior, also Spring Woods High; Center: Azucena Gonzalez, sophomore, Spring Woods High; Bottom, kneeling: Austin Muckridge, sophomore, Stratford High; Chris Barron, sophomore, Westchester Academy; Lauren Rodela, sophomore, Spring Woods High; Pedro Quiroz, junior, Northbrook High; Devon Williams, sophomore, Spring Woods High; and Elba DeLaRosa, junior, Northbrook High. (Photo courtesy Guthrie-Spring Branch Navy Jr. ROTC)

Fifteen student cadets from Spring Woods, Northbrook and Stratford high schools and Westchester Academy for International Studies toured Texas A&M University during a May 12 campus visit.

The university tour was led by former Guthrie-Spring Branch Navy Jr. ROTC Cadet Commanding Officer Mirna Cardenas, a 2014 Northbrook High graduate who has completed her sophomore year. She is majoring in education and health.

The cadets toured the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center, received a briefing on the Navy ROTC scholarship available at Texas A&M and toured Rudder Tower, the Memorial Student Center and the Evans Library during the recent visit.

The district’s Navy Jr. ROTC program is led by Commander Jerry Coufal and Master Chief Mark Heuser.