Students from Benton, Central and Lafayette excelled in the first level of the JROTC Academic and Leadership Competition.

Teams from all three schools advance to compete in Level II of the competition, which wraps up on February 15. Winners in Level II will advance to the championship and earn an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.

The nationally recognized academic and leadership competition created exclusively for JROTC students is sponsored by the Army JROTC and conducted by College Options Foundation.

One of the main goals of the JROTC Academic Bowl is to prepare students for state exit/graduation exams as well as college entrance exams, such as the SAT and ACT. In each level of the competition, this fast-paced event tests their knowledge using SAT/ACT-type questions in the areas of JROTC curriculum, English, Math and Science.

The students competed against 1,583 teams from around the world to advance to Level II in an online competition called “Zero Hour Threat.”

Twenty-Four academic teams from Level II will advance to The 2012 Army JROTC Leadership Symposium and Academic Bowl Championship in Washington, D.C., on the campus of George Mason University, June 22 – 26, 2012.

The winner of the Army JROTC Academic Championship will compete against the winners of the Air Force JROTC and Navy JROTC Academic Bowls in the newly established JROTC Tri-Service Academic Bowl Championship.