Wareham JROTC students will go camping on Wickets Island

The Wareham School Committee approved a camping trip on Wickets Island for Wareham High School JROTC cadets on Thursday, Aug. 20.

During the trip, cadets will focus on “hands-on team building, confidence building that I think are so important to students, particularly at the beginning of the school year,” said JROTC teacher Col. Matthew Stanton, who is organizing the trip.

Stanton said the trip will help the cadets develop outdoor survival skills and teamworking skills. Up to 20 cadets will take part in activities including kayak racing, shelter building and fire starting.

The trip will take place from Sept. 11 to Sept. 12. On the afternoon of Sept. 11, the cadets will canoe or kayak out to Wickets Island, where they will set up camp. Stanton said that Stuart Donnelly of the Onset Bay Center will give the cadets a tour of the island and teach them about the wildlife living on it. 

The Onset Bay Center won’t charge the JROTC for helping with the camping trip, Stanton said.

When School Committee Chair Geoff Swett asked if Stanton would eat the meal the cadets cooked, Stanton replied, “I absolutely will.” They plan to cook “hobo stew,” Stanton said.

Superintendent Amy Hartley-Matteson asked whether Stanton planned to talk about the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the trip. He said that the cadets will talk and reflect upon the significance of the attacks that night.

“It sounds like a great opportunity to make that experience deep,” Hartley-Matteson said.