When Gen. Colin Powell was named National Security Advisor in 1987, he found that the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program, established under President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, had become basically inoperative for many years. Powell, who as a college freshman joined the ROTC program at City College of New York, was troubled to see what had happened to the program he credited with jumpstarting his career.

"It was only once I was in college ... when I found something that I liked, and that was ... the Reserve Officer Training Corps," he said. "I not only liked it, but I was pretty good at it. That's what you really have to look for in life, something that you like, and something that ... you're pretty good at. And if you can put those two things together, then you're on the right track, and just drive on."

So Powell reopened the program and required every school district to have at least one active unit.

At the time, Connie Rickman was the assistant principal of Tacoma's Lincoln High School. When she heard about Powell's initiative, she was quick to volunteer Lincoln as the first school in the Tacoma School District to reinstate the JROTC program.

Having taught at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in the past, Rickman understood the positive impact exposure to the military could have on students, and she knew that the skills and self-discipline inherent in the JROTC program could prove very valuable for the Lincoln student body.

With the support of then-principal Jim Chatman, Rickman presented the program to the school board. However, even with overwhelming support from the community, three out of the five board members remained opposed to the plan. One objection was that a JROTC program could potentially marginalize the female students. Rickman responded by reminding the board members that she was female. Another objection was that the significant number of homeless students that were a part of Lincoln's student body might be ineligible to participate. One by one, Rickman overcame the objections of the board members, convincing them that a JROTC program at Lincoln would not only be open to all but beneficial to all - and Army JROTC has been a fixture at Lincoln High School ever since.

Rickman went on to serve as assistant principal at both Stadium and Wilson High Schools, and wherever she went, she brought the JROTC with her. Everywhere the JROTC went, Rickman saw the same results: kids involved in JROTC quickly demonstrated greater self-discipline and respect, not just for other members of the JROTC but for fellow students and teachers as well.

Rickman, who is married to retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Rick Rickman, is justifiably proud of the value the JROTC has contributed to the Tacoma School District and the opportunities it has provided for hundreds of students to discover - as Gen. Colin Powell did - something they like and they're "pretty good at ... and just drive on."