Richards High School senior Steven Grant, 18, has overcome some huge odds to become both a leader and a mentor.
When he was very young, his mother, Amy Grant, became seriously ill after complications from a medical procedure and spent a lot of time in the hospital. Aside from worrying about her well-being, Steven missed a lot of school and, when he attended, had a hard time focusing on his studies.
To make matters worse, he said, “I also endured years of emotional and mental bullying.”
It took a long time and many different teachers to help him overcome his anxiety. He especially thanks Richards speech pathologist Beth Rockey for enabling him to fine-tune things that most of us take for granted.
He also credits his involvement in JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) with honing his communications skills.
“This high school program accepts all students — not just the good athletes or those who excel academically. They recognize every type of talent and help to develop it,” Grant said.
Today, he is a Navy JROTC lieutenant junior grade. He is a mostly self-taught commander for Richards’ armed drill team.
Being a huge history buff, Grant always has had a passion for the military and its role in shaping our history. As a junior, he approached his commanding officers and naval science instructors, Cmdr. Doug Groters and Chief Dennis Reynolds, to allow him to develop, perform and train others for an armed exhibition drill team.
There had never been a drill team in the seven years of the JROTC program at Richards. The armed exhibition drill is performed with a 10-pound unloaded rifle that is maneuvered in a synchronized series of spins and tosses while marching.
“I volunteered for something I had no experience with — nor had I ever led any type of team before this,” Grant said. “It gave me something to be totally committed to — almost like an Olympic athlete.”
To learn the specialized moves, he relied on watching videos and YouTube postings of different routines. Using a drill rifle he received as a Christmas gift, he developed a training regimen that took several months to perfect and often kept him practicing for six hours each day, while also maintaining his honor roll status.
Once Grant believed he mastered the moves, he put together an armed exhibition platoon of 12 students, mostly freshmen, and trained them.
In March 2014, the team competed for the first time, and while it didn’t win, the experience provided confidence and the opportunity to hone their skills.
By April 11, things had turned around and Grant’s team won first place for his armed exhibition at the Eisenhower drill meet.
Grant, who also is an accomplished bowler and placed 28th in the state, sees the National Guard Reserve program in his future as he pursues a major in political science. He’d also like to continue as a mentor for the JROTC program and maybe return one day to Richards to coach the drill team.
He remembers his teachers’ commitment, and they remember him.
While Jeanne Weiss has known him since he was in second grade, she didn’t get to work closely with Grant until his three years at Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School. She said she recalls him being “a responsible and caring student who would do anything for his fellow classmates,” and said he was “the coolest kid.”
Beth Carmody was Grant’s fifth-grade teacher at Hometown Elementary. By chance, she got to see him last year at the OLHMS Veterans Day assembly, but barely recognized him as part of the JROTC Color Guard. He found her in the crowd.
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“He looked so confident, so happy, so focused. I could not believe the change in him. He said I told him to believe in himself and that he FINALLY did. Yes, I cried,” Carmody said.
Regina “Reggie” Sabadosa is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown. She can be emailed at [email protected].