School & Community News

JEFFERSONTOWN HIGH SCHOOL OBSTACLE COURSE DEDICATION

Info below-also at attachment.

JEFFERSONTOWN HIGH SCHOOL OBSTACLE COURSE DEDICATION

• On April 12, 2013, at 6:30 pm, LtCol Mark Dobbs will host Jeffersontown High School’s formal dedication of the newly built Obstacle Course developed under the direction for the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program’s leadership.

• The Jeffersontown High School Marine Corps JROTC Parents Association took the lead on this project under the guidance of the committee President, Ms. Joy Steinhauer, and the parent designer and builder, Mr. Mark Lynch. Mr. Lynch spent many hours with other parents and friends of the cadet corps building this unique and safe training facility.

• This course was developed to support all sports and activities at Jeffersontown High School in their physical and team building efforts, used to host competitions with other JROTC programs in the area. In the near future, it is hoped that the course may be opened for use to organizations in the Jeffersontown area.

• The Obstacle Course is part of a larger physical fitness movement by the Jeffersontown JROTC program to address, in small part, Kentucky’s continued climb in percent of childhood obesity. A report from 2009, identified Kentucky as seventh highest state in adult obesity, and that it has third highest rate in the U.S. of children who are overweight or at risk of overweight. If current trends continue, Kentucky is predicted to jump from 30 percent adult obesity in 2011 to 60.1 percent in 2030.

• In a 2010 study, research found adults in Alaska (72.5%), Montana (72.4%), Utah (71.8%), and Vermont (73.3%) were more likely to be physically active than any other state. Tennessee (51.8%), Louisiana (56.0%), Mississippi (57.2%), and Kentucky (57.9%) were the least active states in the nation. The national average is only 64.5%.

• Outside agencies, parents, and friends of the JROTC Cadet Corps sponsored each obstacle built on the Course. Jeffersontown High School, under the leadership of Dr. Pollio, Principal, helped select the land for the course and paid for partial fencing of the area. No other funding or asset support was received from the JCPS.

• Phase I of the course has been completed with the building of twelve obstacles which offer multiple physically changeling training scenarios. Phase II, the storage facility, and team building areas are to be built during the summer of 2013. The final phase, which encompasses a Raider (JROTC physical fitness competition team) ropes course, will be completed during school year 2013-2014.

Prepared by:

LtCol Mark Dobbs, USMC (Ret)
Senior Military Instructor
Marine Corps JROTC
Jeffersontown High School
9600 Old Six Mile Lane
Jeffersontown, KY 40299
Tel: (502) 485-8444
Fax: (502) 485-8817
"ONE TEAM"