BHS Marines JROTC Advances In Academic Bowl

BENSALEM, PA — A group of Marine JROTC members from Bensalem High School has advanced in a national academic bowl competition.

The cadets make up the Bensalem High School Marine Corps JRTOC Leadership Academic Bowl team. The team is dedicated to studying scholarly academics and the skills that surround leadership, school officials say.

They've been practicing under Marine instructor Master Sgt. Shawn Worthen and with mentorship from cadet 1st Lt. Mohammad Kayfa. At their Feb. 1 group competition, the team scored in the top 50 percent of all teams nationwide, advancing to the next round.

At the Level II qualifiers, the team will seek to become one of the top eight teams, which will advance to the championship round in Washington, D.C. later this year.

The JLAB is an academic and leadership competition where teams of four use skills learned in the classroom and apply them to real-life situations. It consists of 25 percent JROTC questions, 65 percent SAT/ACT-type questions and 10 percent current events questions.

They answer while working together under a "countdown clock," with each team member contributing from within their assigned area of responsibility.

"The JLAB has been around for a while, but this is Bensalem MCJROTC’s first year participating in the competition and thanks to the fine education they receive from our fellow teachers, these cadets have far exceeded our expectations on what was supposed to be our learning year," Worthen said.

The team was made up of cadets Brian Olsen, Liam Robinson, Mohammad Kafya and Alayna Schnorbus. Also attending via Zoom was Thomas Nicholas.

For more information, you may visit the Bensalem High School Marine JROTC website.