Community Education

TideHawks win an NJROTC national championship

Command Master Chief Robert Stockton has taken the Peninsula School District’s TideHawks team to the JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl competition (or JLAB) in each of the four years he has led the program. Qualifying four consecutive years is an accomplishment in itself.

But this month the TideHawks, a Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, topped themselves.

They won the 2026 Navy JLAB national championship in Washington, D.C., for the first time.

A four-person team from the TideHawks NJROTC competed at the JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl competition in Washington, D.C. this month. The Peninsula School District team won the championship, defeating a team from Bethel, Connecticut. The TideHawks included (from right) Derek Liu of Peninsula High; John McDaniel of Gig Harbor High; Enrico Shein of Peninsula; and Sydney Gardner of Peninsula. Photo courtesy of Robert Stockton.

Big comeback

The TideHawks defeated a team from Bethel High School in Connecticut in the final round by a score of 190-130. But just getting to the finals was a battle.

The local team cruised through the opening rounds before running up against an undefeated NJROTC team from California’s Troy High School in the semifinals. The TideHawks fell behind by 50 points in the fourth quarter of the match before rallying to win by 10.

“It was a pretty big upset, and it earned us our spot in the NJROTC national championship match,” he said. 

The matchup with Bethel wasn’t exactly fair winds and following seas, either. The moderator peppered the teams with tough questions before the TideHawks went full steam ahead in the final minutes to upset Bethel for the championship.

More than 700 schools across the country entered NJROTC teams to compete in the first round, which is an online test, Stockton said. The competition includes junior ROTC teams affiliated with the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard as well as the Navy. Four to six cadets make up the teams.

“The top 30 percent got to level two, and in February they competed in the second level of the exam,” he said. “The Navy picks the top eight teams out of 700 schools, and each school can have two teams.”

Those eight Navy teams then compete in person in the nation’s capital.

TideHawks NJROTC

The TideHawks NJROTC program is open to all PSD students, ages 14 through senior year. Peninsula High hosts the NJROTC program, but cadets from Gig Harbor, Henderson Bay and home-schooled students are eligible as well.

Stockton said the program focuses on structure, good citizenship and academics.

“Recruiting is not the goal of the program,” he said. “We do teach Navy history and tradition, but the decisions that students make at the end of their time in class are independently their own. Some may want to join, some will go on to college, or to other careers, and we support them all.”

The students who compete at JLAB are in the top 1% academically, he said. A company called National Academic Quiz Tournaments prepares the questions.

Command Master Chief Robert Stockton and the TideHawks team that won the JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl national championship this month in Washington, D.C. From left are Stockton, Enrico Shein, John McDaniel, Sydney Gardner and Derek Liu. Photo courtesy of Robert Stockton

“Competing in that group, it’s very difficult just to get there, let alone to win,” Stockton said. “There have been programs doing this for a long time that haven’t gotten there because it’s so difficult.”

Meet the team

The TideHawks NJROTC National Championship team included John McDaniel, a junior at Gig Harbor; Enrico Shein, a sophomore at Peninsula; Sydney Gardner, a sophomore at Peninsula; and Derek Liu, a freshman at Peninsula.

“We had a very young team,” Stockton said. 

The team took the opportunity to explore and learn while in the nation’s capital.

“I took them to the Capitol, and we went to the Vietnam War Memorial and looked up Gig Harbor’s only service member on the wall, Earl L. Lewis. I had them incorporate that into a history lesson,” Stockton said. “And we went to the U.S. Naval Academy (in nearby Annapolis, Maryland) to tour it.”

The TideHawks found the name of Earl L. Lewis of Gig Harbor on the Vietnam Wall during their visit to Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Robert Stockton

After winning the Navy championship, the TideHawks advanced to face the national champions from other branches. The PSD team finished fourth in that competition, with an Air Force team from San Diego winning top honors. 

NJROTC classes meet every school day, with a different focus each day. Mondays are physical fitness day; the cadets focus on naval science on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; Thursdays are for uniform inspection and drill; and on Fridays, cadets hear from guest speakers, take field trips, discuss current events or prep for competitions.

For more information about the NJROTC program email [email protected] or call 253-530-1000.