Middle School Visits
1st Lt Kertis Henderson, CAP
Public Affairs Officer
MER-NC-022 Burlington Composite Squadron
Introduction
About the Author
I'm the Public Affairs Officer at the Burlington Composite Squadron (NC-022). In the past, I've done a number of non-C.A.P.-related school visits. I've used these visits to teach topics such as computer programming, photography, and mathematics. Over the years, I've learned a little bit about how to make these visits go smoothly and how to capitalize on them afterward. I hope to help other squadrons use these visits for cadet recruitment.
Problem
I'll describe NC-022 as it was in the months before our first middle school visit. At the squadron, we had a functioning group of senior officers, and almost all of the staff positions were covered by one or two members. We had enough cadets to have an interesting meeting, but we still had room for more. Our meeting space had more than enough room for senior officers, cadets, and other specialized groups to meet at the same time each Tuesday night.
Our goal was to recruit more cadets from area schools. Like most squadrons, NC-022 represents an area that contains many middle schools, so we had options to choose from.
