Elegantly dressed for a night of toasts, dinner and dancing, the WSHS JROTC battalion celebrated all of its members’ accomplishments with friends, families and special guests at the annual Military Ball on Feb. 15, 2020.

“It was stressful, but learning how to turn that stress into motivation was really cool. I’m 15, so I thought this was something I wouldn’t be able to do. It’s really cool that we’re making it happen,” Annie Wilford (10) said.

Taking the position of S6 for this school year, Wilford took charge of organizing the event. From booking Crosstown Concourse as the venue to ordering Jason’s Deli as catering, she made sure everything was set up for success.

“We had a guy who was an army veteran speak to us. He fought in the Vietnam War, and the staff gave him an award,” Khalifa Clark (10) said. “This year was pretty fun because there were more people involved on the dance floor this time.”

After going through the usual formalities including honoring the US Army and fallen JROTC and US soldiers, the attendees were welcomed onto the dance floor.

“This wasn’t my first time going to the Military Ball, but I thought that the location was pretty impressive,” Siddarth Sharma (11) said. “My favorite part of the night was dancing with the people I was with. It made the night more fun.”

Inspired by the Military Balls held by actual army branches, WSHS ROTC has taken on this tradition to celebrate with its members each year.

“I love the connections that we make with all the older people. We get to talk to a lot of these people who went to West Point or are retired officers and hear about their pasts,” Wilford said. “It’s all-around a fun night. We’ve worked really hard all year to pull our drill meets off, so getting to do this is a big celebration of all of our work.”