As a health and physical education teacher, Jeremy Smail knows the discipline it takes to finish a task. It’s the same kind of attitude many U.S. Marines need to thrive. And though he may not be in the Marine Corps, he did attend a boot camp at the U.S. Marine’s Parris Island base in South Carolina—complete with physical training, a combat fitness test and a bayonet assault course.
Smail, who works at Apollo-Ridge Middle and High School, participated in an Educator’s Workshop hosted by the Marines in February. It was 13 weeks of Marine-type training condensed into four days. According to Smail, the Marines invite educators from the area to visit the base so they can better understand the types of training and programming the military offers for students. “They were so gracious and told us right off the bat it wasn’t to make us recruiters, but just to show educators who they take into the Marines, and what they do with new recruits,” says Smail, also a football coach.
Stand at attention!
Smail says his relationship with the Marines began a few years ago, when they started coming to the school to provide one-day fitness programming for the students. “We’ve been doing this for a couple of years,” he says. “They come in and actually lead phys ed classes by showing them the combat or military fitness tests, or sometimes they have a more relaxed approach and play games with the students.”
There are usually six to 10 Marines who come to lead the classes when they visit, something the students really enjoy, Smail says. “The most amazing thing is the students’ reactions to the Marines. They respond really well to the challenges they pres- ent, and have fun with it,” he says.
The Marines also hosted a senior leadership course in summer 2013 for the senior football players at both Apollo-Ridge and Burrell high schools. “It was great. They worked on teamwork and motivation with the players. They did things like races and a Humvee pull (where you pull a vehicle on a rope with your weight), which the students loved,” Smail says. “It was cool and motivation at the same time.”
Shortly after hosting that camp, one of the Marine recruiters asked Smail if he wanted to attend the Educator’s Workshop.
Taste of the real thing
Cpl. Pedro Cardenas, spokesman for the Marines Recruiting Station Pittsburgh, says the Educator’s Workshop allows the Marine Corps to show educators firsthand what new recruits face. “It gives them a taste of what the Marines is all about,” he says. “We want to reshape what the community thinks about the Marines, and what we have to offer.”
The workshops are geared for educators who work with, as Cardenas calls them, “the nation’s new generation of leaders. We want them to see that opportunities and programs the Marines can give young people,” he says.
Workshop hopefuls apply to the Marines for admittance. And since it was in February—during the academic school year—Smail had to have approval by his school board. The Marine Corps picked up all the costs, except for the substitute teacher to fill in for Smail.
Smail says they stayed at a hotel, but spent most of the time at the nearby base. “We got up super early, and they actually had a sergeant in the bus just like the real recruits do. They wanted to show us what it was like,” he says.
When they arrived at the base, the participants got to stand in the “yellow footprints,” where every recruit stands. “There are two giant silver doors that every recruit goes through to start their journey with the Marines, but they wouldn’t let us go through those. I really respected that, because it is special for the recruits,” Smail says.
The Corps philosophy
The education leadership participants also attended classes, did some rifle training, and saw recruits in action on the training courses. They also got to witness a class of recruits graduate.
One of Smail’s favorite parts was when the group got a chance to eat lunch with some of the recruits. “They matched us up with local kids from our general area, and they told us their backgrounds, where they were from, why they enlisted. It was great,” he says.
Smail says perhaps the most valuable aspect of the program were the “takeaways” from the sessions. “The structure of public education is very similar to the structure of the Marines when you think about it,” he says. “We have kids from all walks of life, all kinds of backgrounds—we have to see the potential in every student and figure out how to bring it out.”
Smail says he also learned things he will use while training the football team, as well. “No matter what setbacks you have—and there will be setbacks—you just have to modify and adjust the plan and carry on to achieve your goals. There is no ‘fail’ in the Marine Corps dictionary,” he says.
