Last semester, the Española Valley High School Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps was recognized as a Gold Star Honor Unit with Distinction.
Of the 2,000 units nationwide, only 210 units were given this recognition, according to Maj. Mark Gonzales, the instructor for the AJROTC program, a high school elective.
Española Valley High School Principal Robert Archuleta, who is an Air Force and Air National Guard veteran himself, said many achievements the armed forces accomplishes are great.
“This Gold Star, for this community and for this school says a lot, because we’re portrayed as not the best in the state, but we are,” he said. “Our school is really great. People don’t think so. They perceive it to be a bad school, but it’s not. So this just proves to the contrary that we are a great school, and this Gold Star just was icing on the cake for us to say that we are exemplary.”
Every AJROTC program must be accredited by retired members of the U.S. Army Cadet Command every three years and are given a fail, pass or Gold Star Honor Unit with Distinction, Gonzales said.
He said the accreditation evaluates the group based on:
– A three-year portfolio created by the instructor documenting the work the group has completed,
– Briefings presented by students — called cadets through the program — on their work over the past three years,
– Cadet responses to questions on curriculum knowledge without the instructor present,
– A uniform inspection,
– A 25-step-sequence drill evaluation,
– A color guard evaluation and attendance.
– The High School’s AJROTC program passed the accreditation with a 95 percent and received a one hundred percent on curriculum knowledge, Gonzales said.
The program includes 117 students from both Española Valley High School and Pojoaque Valley High School — every single student was present for the accreditation, he said.
“They’re training at adult level,” he said. “This was not an easy inspection.”
This is Gonzales’ 40th year in uniform, he said. He participated in ROTC at his own high school and has taught ROTC for 14 years, 11 of them in Española.
“My kids get to wear a Gold Star,” he said. “It’s a lot. It’s a lot for this town. My kids are doing more than the average high school student within the high school. You’re talking the best of the best.”
Gonzales’ AJROTC group works in the community and also studies a variety of subjects.
The cadets participate in cleanups, drug walks, parades and other community service projects, Gonzales said. The group also helps run teen court and attends a junior leadership camp at the New Mexico Military Institute. This year, two Española Valley High School freshmen received two of the four scholarships the Institute offers each year.
Geography, writing skills, health, first aid, American government and other topics are also discussed in the class, he said.
“These are the worker bees of the high school,” Gonzales said.
Melanie Maes, Rachel Gomez and Brandy Romero are cadets through the Española Valley High School AJROTC program.
What the AJROTC did for Maes, Gomez and Romero centered on aspects such as respect, authority, better self presentation, responsibility and how to be a better person.
Maes said earning the Gold Star required months of preparation.
“We worked all year really hard for it, so when we found out we got a 95 and got a star, we were all pretty excited about it, Romero said.”
“A lot, not just to us but to Major and to the people before us, because it’s every three years,” Gomez said of what the Gold Star meant to the group. “So they worked on the brief as well, not just us, and it just took a lot of hard work.”
On the day of the accreditation, cadets are not sure who else will attend or what the evaluators will say, Maes said.
“It made Major cry. He won’t admit it, but he did,” Romero said of earning the Gold Star.
When asked if there was anything they would like to say to Gonzales, the interviewed cadets gave a unanimous, “Thank you.”
“Thank you, it’s taught me so much, and helped me, not just in the class, also out. Anything we need, he’s there for us,” Gomez said.
For Romero, Gonzales was like a father.
Romero said, “Thank you for everything you’ve taught us. He’s someone we can really trust. He’s like a father figure to all of us here. He’s really great.”
He was part of Maes’ life for years.
Maes said, “Thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me. I’ve been with him for four years, and he’s always been a great guy. I believe he deserves the best teacher award; he deserves so much. For everything he’s done for everybody. He’s a great guy. He really is.”
Gonzales said he spends a lot of time with the cadets, like a father. Sometimes he needs to tell cadets to leave his office to go to class, and his office is filled with them during lunch.
Many of the cadets are struggling or have problems at home, he said.
“A lot of them don’t have anybody at home that can mentor them and help them,” he said.
Gonzales said he wants to create a family-type atmosphere through the program.
He has a son and daughter himself and said his wife will tell his children, “‘Your dad doesn’t have two kids, he’s got 119.’”
The program has helped many cadets struggling in school make a turnaround, he said.
AJROTC is not about recruiting cadets for the Army, but rather using a military-based structure to help prepare them for the real world with teamwork, confidence, organization and other skills, Gonzales said.
Archuleta said there are wonderful cadets in this AJROTC group, and he hopes they go on to pursue a career in the military or become strong leaders of the school, community or nation.
“I’m just proud of them,” he said. “This is really something that has made a difference for the school. I think it brings a lot of pride to the community. These kids do a lot.”
He said he hopes the AJROTC program continues to grow.
Gonzales said, “I wouldn’t trade this job for anything in the world.”
Española is a small community that does not have everything, he said.
“For a little town like Española that’s always getting put down, my kids did great,” he said. “And you know what? I have no doubt in my mind, to me, good or bad, they’re mine. I love my kids. And you know what? They’re just as good as anybody anywhere, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for these kids.”