Special to the Herald

The JROTC career and technical program housed at Cranston High School East is now offering its leadership opportunities to even more students than before.
The award-winning program is often showcased at districtwide events, as its student leaders and color guard is in high demand. Now, the program has expanded its offerings thanks to a pair of Best Buddies, seniors Emily Sanita and Genesis Aldana, who inquired as to whether or not the program could be offered to students in the Life Skills program.
Aldana, a member of the JROTC program, was instrumental in bringing Best Buddies to Cranston East. She and Sanita have been involved in Best Buddies for two years.
“I have been Buddies with Genesis and I have always been interested in JROTC,” Sanita said. “I got to go to Dining Out last year, and this year we had a unified color guard for the basketball day game but we had different uniforms.”
The hope was that everyone would be able to have the same uniform so that the program would be completely unified.
“My being in JROTC has had a big influence on Emily,” Aldana said. “She was eager to be a part of this program, especially to wear the uniform. She spoke with the administration and it was soon brought to our JROTC instructor, and he thought it was a great idea. From there, we opened it up to all of the special education students, to anyone who wanted to be a part of the program. I thought it was something that needed to be done.”
On Nov. 27, a completely unified color guard took part in the school pep rally with everyone wearing the same uniform.
Sanita was recently promoted to deputy battalion commander and is now in charge of the unified color guard team, through which she will be presenting the colors at the pep rally.
“I was very excited,” she said, reflecting on the recent promotion ceremony.
According to Sanita, there are seven total students in the unified group – mainly upperclassmen, but also a few underclassmen who will continue on in the program once the seniors like Sanita graduate in June.
“With my new promotion I will be helping Genesis, watching over my cadets, and Genesis will be watching over me and helping me,” Sanita said. “I will also have a part in the punchbowl ceremony at this year’s Dining Out. I am excited and happy about meeting my new deputies in JROTC. They will be able to come to the event and have their own table. It’s exciting for them to come and do it.”
The inclusivity that this brings to the program is something that makes Sanita and Aldana proud.
“We should be all inclusive. Everyone should have the same opportunity to join this program no matter what disability, race, gender or class you might be,” Aldana said. “JROTC is all about leadership, inclusion and diversity.”
Life Skills teacher Katie Salisbury-Grant is pleased that Sanita and Aldana stepped forward to inquire about the possibility of a unified JROTC.
“It’s very exciting knowing that they’ve started something that other students will enjoy,” she said. “Sometimes it just takes one person to ask, ‘Can we do this?’ And then it grows, all because one person asked. Emily and Genesis are leaving a legacy. This will be here after they leave.”