Copyright CBS News
When Lt. Col. William York retired, his final marching orders were to leave a positive impact. Now, that's exactly what he's doing at Patterson High School in his role as senior aerospace science instructor. "We do teach aerospace science, but I like to think of that as secondary to our primary mission," said York. The primary mission of JROTC, the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, is to create better citizens for America. 150 students participate in the program at Patterson High School, learning skills like discipline, self-awareness, and decision-making. "I teach that life is hard, we all know that, but we get to make a choice as to which direction we go after we run into those barriers, and so we want resilience to preside over their lives," said York. For retired Lt. Col. York, leaving a positive impact on his students' lives is what gets him out of bed every morning. "I tell them all the time," he said. "They're all my children. I've got five at home and 150 here at the school." Dedication to the youth York quit his federal job doing accounting and started teaching in 2019, a year after his life changed forever when his son took his own life. "[I] decided to dedicate my life to helping students and sort of paying back what I wish someone would have had a chance to do with my son." He's dedicated his life to his cadets, and the impact goes both ways. "They saved me as much as I saved them," he said. For the cadets, like sophomores Angel Cabrera and Darelslim Logman, the bonds they've made are what they value most. "In this class, we are like family, and we do look after each other," said Logman. "It's an amazing experience, teaches you a lot of discipline, gives you a lot of motivation, and it's a great family to have," said Cabrera. Logman never imagined joining the army, but after being a part of JROTC, she plans to join after graduation. "It's taught me responsibility and leadership," she said. Changing the narrative Together, the cadets have been working hard as they prepare to march in the Baltimore City Veterans Day Parade on Saturday. "You know there's a lot of negative news [that] comes out in Baltimore about youth, but I got 150 kids here that prove that it's not all of them, and that's what I want the public to see," said York. Students from Patterson High School will march alongside other cadets from the city's 10 JROTC programs, including the instructors who make it possible. "We've served our country for 20 or more years across the board, and we want to give that back and pass it on to the next generation," said York.
