Youth ChalleNGe Academy
February 23, 2011
By Chuck Walsh
At the S.C. Youth ChalleNGe Academy,it’s all about second chances. It’s about breathing new life into youngmen and women where perhaps none existed. And for the at-risk teens that enter the Academy’s doors, it’s a chance to secure a successful future. To take advantage of those second chances, however, requiresdetermination, willpower, and self-motivation.
Since 1998,the Academy has infused discipline and guidance into the lives of teensthat are heading nowhere. With a success rate of greater than 70%, theprogram works on the premise that youth can succeed if they are involved in a regimented system. It’s not a school, but the seventeen-monthprogram helps enrollees earn their G.E.D, and pursue job opportunities,whether it’s the military, or the work place in general.
According to director Col. Jackie Fogle, Youth ChalleNGe shows waywardteens they can pick themselves up by their bootstraps and succeed. Weprovide an opportunity to help them straighten out their lives, hesays. Most of these kids didn’t have strong discipline and structurewhile growing up. Students are between the ages of 16 and 19, and thecommon theme being they’ve dropped out of high school. Some may havemenial jobs, but nothing that indicates a secure future. Either way,they realize they need to turn their lives around.
It’s very challenging, but it’s quite an experience to see a young man orwoman on the verge of going to DJJ (Department of Juvenile Justice), and then you see them come through the program and they’ve got their headheld high, says Col. Fogle. Potential students find out before theyenroll the challenge that awaits. When the kids come in to interview,we let them sit down with two cadets, privately, to ask questions. Thecadets tell them like it is; that it’s not going to be easy. Once theprogram gets underway, it doesn’t take long for the cadets to respond.After about a month, they tend to enjoy the discipline. They might nottell you, but kids want discipline in their lives.
TheAcademy is a two-step process, and the first the most demanding. By thesecond week, those who aren’t cut out for it, usually drop out. Andthough one might think Col. Fogle and his staff can identify those mostlikely to complete the program, think again. Sometimes you see a kidcome in who looks like they are going to pan out, and they don’t, hesays. Then others come in who look like they have no chance, and theyend up being the better student.
The first phase, calledthe Residential phase, is a five-month progression of building blocks to instill leadership, self-discipline, physical fitness, and hard workinto the cadets. Led by current and retired members of the S.C. National Guard, as well as other military branches, the collection of full timestaff and volunteers are what make the program a success. Col. Fogle isquick to give credit to his full-time staff, but said volunteers arevital. With regard to them, Fogle says, we couldn’t survive.
The Post-Residential phase is next, and the cadets begin pursuit oftheir academic degree, as well as lay the foundation for employmentopportunities. During this twelve-month phase, mentors play a crucialstep as they meet with, and provide assistance, in identifying careerinterests with the cadets.
Those who complete the program are monitored for 12 months after they graduate, and their mentor meets with them on a regular basis. Formercadets will sometimes visit to let the staff know they are graduatingfrom college, have landed jobs, or perhaps have entered the military.Some will speak to the current cadets and show them that if they applythemselves, they can make something positive of their lives.
Through the years, Col. Fogle has learned a lot about the teenswho’ve entered the Academy. When I started with this program, Iprobably had the belief that these were bad kids, says Fogle. But themore I work with them, the more I realize they’re not bad kids, theyjust made bad decisions. I had to realize that some of these kids neverhad someone to tell them right from wrong.
Second chancesare never a guarantee in life, but for the cadets who enter the S.C.Youth ChalleNGe Academy, it might be the last chance they ever get.Thankfully, most of them make the most of the opportunity.
Find more information at http://www.ngycp.org
