Smith-Cotton High School JROTC cadets participated in a leadership and team-building activity, with the help of local National Guard recruiters, on Monday, Sept. 17, in the practice fields behind the school.

The cadets loaded mock casualties onto litters and carried them up a hill to a waiting Humvee, then pulled the vehicle as a team about 20 feet. Other activities were creating a two-plank bridge, providing counterweight to allow a team member to cross a span, and Battle Ball, in which cadets were secured into inflated spheres and worked as teams to knock over their opponents.

Sedalia School District 200
Sedalia School District 200
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S-C JROTC instructor 1st Sgt. (Ret.) Yale Barkefelt said the two-plank bridge activity helped older cadets display their leadership and younger cadets learned to listen and follow directions. The litter loading and carrying showed the cadets the importance of working as a team, while the Battle Ball game was just for fun.

"This is outstanding, they are having a blast," Barkefelt said. "This also gets them working with the National Guard, so they are working with our community."

PIC1: JROTC Cadet Tristan Perkins, center, tells fellow cadets that they need to carry their litter up the hill to the Humvee as National Guard Staff Sgt.Connie Kraft, back right, provides instruction during a leadership and team-building exercise Monday, Sept. 17, on the practice field behind Smith-Cotton High School.

PIC2: A JROTC cadet crosses a two-plank bridge as fellow cadets Raymond Tackett, Nicholas McKeon and Alyssa Ream provide counterweight during a team-building activity on Monday.

PIC3: Cadet Raymond Tackett, right, knocks over fellow cadet Brian Monroe during a Battle Ball activity as part of a JROTC leadership and team-building exercise.

Sedalia School District 200
Sedalia School District 200
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