Lieutenant Colonel John Block is new to Arlington High School. He previously worked as a U.S. Customs Officer and also did work with the Department of Defense in the military at Fort Lee in Prince George, Virginia. Before that, he spent thirty years in the military. He is a graduate of Arkansas State University.
Colonel Block is excited to be join Arlington High School’s JROTC Program. He says, “Being a JROTC instructor was the first thing I wanted to do when I retired from the military.” Colonel Block is dedicated to making connections with students. He goes out of his way to make sure that students feel welcomed and that they are cared for. One way he does that is by greeting students in the bus line. “We have a couple of Spanish students that come down, and I get the chance to speak their native language to them,” he says.
Colonel Block intends to bring out the best in all of the cadets and mold tomorrows leaders. He focuses on the upperclassmen, juniors and seniors, the ones that will graduate and enter society hopefully as better citizens. Leadership is hard to define and high school students need a role model to look up to as an example. Colonel is this role model that cadets and even students who just see him in the hall can take his example and conduct themselves accordingly.