WS Chronicle

The City of Winston-Salem held its fourth annual Winston-Salem Forsyth County 9/11 Public Safety Challenge at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds & Annex on Saturday, Sept. 8.

The Public Safety Challenge combines the city’s 9/11 commemoration with a competition for high school Junior ROTC units. More than 200 JROTC cadets from 10 high schools competed in several areas.

Congratulations to the Ronald Reagan High School JROTC program on winning the competition for the second consecutive year, city government said on its Facebook page. As the winning unit, the unit will take home the Public Safety Challenge Cup, a perpetual trophy that is passed to the winner from one year to the next.

The program opened at 9:11 a.m. with the city’s annual 9/11 commemoration. Afterward, JROTC cadets from high schools in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County competed in marksmanship, close-order drill and a “raider” (obstacle) course that combines elements of the police physical abilities test and the fire agility test.

Forsyth County Commission Chairman Dave Plyler and Mayor Pro Temp Vivian Burke thank the school system’s JROTC staff, who display a strong commitment to the students, and wish all the programs a successful 2018-2019 school year, city government said on Facebook.

In four years, the partnership between the Forsyth County Sheriff’s office, Winston-Salem Police Department, Winston-Salem Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services have contributed $20,000 to the school system’s JROTC program by each year providing a $5,000 sponsorship to the Military Science program of the city-county schools, which oversees the high school JROTC units.

The event serves as an opportunity for the partner agency’s Explorer programs to recruit cadets to start a path of public service in the public safety field.