Vanessa Bobbitt’s idea of a fun way to start off the school year was to gather several dozen of her closest friends on the football field at MacArthur High School on a hot September day to participate in a variety of strenuous activities.

Truth be told, her friends really didn’t have the option of whether or not to participate. Bobbitt is commander of the MacArthur High School JROTC Highlander Battalion and she organized the fun day as a team building exercise for the entire battalion.

“We get to know one another and it is a fun way to start off the year,” Bobbitt said. “We used to do something similar at JROTC in Germany.”

Bobbitt said she contacted some other battalions to come up with ideas for the event, which she organized herself. Activities included dodge ball, tug of war, a marching competition, a pushup contest, a chain arm pull-up contest, a relay race, a balloon toss and a uniform contest. Students were organized into teams by their company and rotated through each station. Points were awarded to the winners of each activity and the overall winner received a pair of golden boots.

Cadet Liam Vanderheiden-Tice, 14, ninth grade, said this was his first year in JROTC; he joined because he wants to pursue a career in the Air Force. He was taking a break as he waited for his turn at the pushup station.

“It’s been pretty fun,” he said. “It hasn’t really been that hard. I’m not really good at doing pushups. I usually work out at the gym.”

He said he knew most of the people in his company because they were his friends from last year.

“It’s helping us build teamwork and learn how to work together,” he said. “We had to use two people to carry the dummy. There has to be cooperation for everything to work.”

He said he would like to join the armed drill team.

“We get to travel and get leadership points and you get promoted to a higher rank. You can tell them what to do if you are a higher rank,” he said. “During competitions, we will be with other people in the company.”

Cadet Master Sgt. Emma Hilburn, 16, sophomore, said this is her third year in JROTC. She is company commander for Alpha Company, and constantly shouted encouragement to her cadets as they rotated through the stations.

At one station, a cadet had to put on a shirt and button it while another cadet helped.

“Button it faster! You are wasting time! I need a 59.9,” she shouted as two students fumbled through the exercise. After buttoning the shirt, the student ran about 15 yards where another student tied a tie around their neck. Then two more students picked up a 40-gallon water container apiece and ran 15 yards with them.

“Today is about competing but also about having fun,” Hilburn said. “We need to learn teamwork. We are helping each other and encouraging each other. So far they have been doing great. I have such a high standard for all of them. I want them to grow up and say this (JROTC) really helped me. It helped me, and I want the same experience for them. Honestly, it has brought us closer. You see how they work together. I can help them improve on that. I want to make sure we keep this set of team members together.”

After lunch, cadets participated in a marching contest and held a tug of war contest.

Echo Company, led by cadet First Lt. Zachary Granahan, Company Commander, and cadet Master Sgt. Ethan Hisaiah, Company First Sergeant, won the competition.