Waimea leadership team advances

The Waimea High School JLAB Leadership Team advanced to Level II out of 1,371 teams worldwide and advanced to the Level III championship round out of 597 semi-finalists.

Waimea HS Leadership Team was the only Hawaii-based team out of four programs from the eighth ROTC Brigade which oversees the western region of the United States, American Samoa and Asia.

Each high school enters a team in both the academic (general subjects) and leadership (JROTC specific) division. The team consists of six student cadets ranging from ninth grade to eleventh grade but only four are selected to compete at the national level.

The Waimea team is coached by Major Victor Aguilar, US Army Retired and assisted by Sergeant Major Keith Castaneda, US Army Retired.

The four-man team and Major Aguilar will be traveling to Washington, D.C., in June to compete against the top 40 teams worldwide. This will be the fifth time Waimea High School JROTC has made it to this level.

The team members are: Julie Jane Remigio (10th grade), Ariell Siliado, (10th grade), Zsa Zsa DuBose (10th grade), Amber Drake (10th grade), Glydelle Valmoja (9th grade), Michael Thompson (9th grade).