Do you enjoy hiking and being in the mountains? If the answer is yes, then West High’s Naval Science Orienteering team is the right place for you! In orienteering, students demonstrate navigational skills around a pre-set course using a map and a compass. Earlier this year, the West High NJROTC Orienteering team took their second consecutive state title after a weather-shortened competition.

I was able to interview this year’s NJROTC Commanding Officer, Harrison Limb about the competition and success of the team. “It was really fun and it was really cold at the same time,” Limb said of the competition. “There was low visibility and we had to navigate our way through the mountains, finding all the control points that were hanging in trees and behind fences and stuff.” When asked about future plans for the team, Limb said “we don’t really have a specific goal [for next year,]” but remarked that taking state for a third straight year would be nice. The Orienteering team is both part of a class and a club activity. Orienteering is taught as a part of the Naval Science class, but sign-ups for the team are also available for students who, as Limb put it, want to “go out into the mountains and just have fun.”

Because the skills needed are taught in-class, students on the Orienteering team must also be a part of the NJROTC program. If you are interested in joining the NJROTC program, you should talk to your counselors about putting you in Naval Science courses. Although the Orienteering team is done competing for the year, if you talk to your counselor now, you could secure a spot in the program next year.