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EVERY YEAR, NEARLY 1 MILLION STUDENTS drop out of high school. Sadly, few programs addressing the needs of these troubled young people have been able to produce a positive and sustainable impact. The National Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe Program is an exception. According to MDRC,

a nonprofi t, nonpartisan research organiza- tion that conducted a rigorous evaluation of the program, Youth ChalleNGe achieves “impressive” results: Participation, the study determined, increased the rate of high school diploma/GED attainment by 29 percent, col- lege attendance by 86 percent, and annual earnings by 20 percent. Like many of the teens who participate in the ChalleNGe Program, Rome always was getting into trouble when he was growing up. “I was going down the wrong path,” the Ap- palachian ChalleNGe Academy graduate said, speaking at an event sponsored by the Nation- al Guard Youth Foundation (NGYF). “Without the program, I’d probably be in jail right now.” Instead, he’s in college — and grateful. “I get emotional talking about it,” he freely admit- ted. “When I thought I was at my plateau, they just pushed me further, took me to new heights, places I didn’t know I could go.” The ChalleNGe Program is designed to help set 16- to 18-year-old high school dropouts on

52 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2015

(previous spread) In addition to the ob- stacle course (shown) at Camp But- ner, N.C., cadets from the Tarheel ChalleNGe Academy, N.C., com- plete a land- navigation course and a 5K road march.

a path that can lead them toward productive and fulfi lling lives. Since it was established in 1993, the community-based program has trans- formed the lives of more than 130,000 young people like Rome by providing quasi-military training, education, and mentoring. “A lot of these kids are so used to failing,

they don’t expect to succeed,” says Sgt. 1st Class Justin Daugherty, a cadre with Hoosier Youth ChalleNGe and an active member of the Indiana National Guard. “Once they get a little taste of success, they just want more and more and more.”

Turning the tide “We focus more on the whole person, the whole cadet, instead of just the education piece that you may get in other programs,” says Maj. Karen Patrick, plans, programs and resource of- fi cer for youth development with the National Guard Bureau, which operates the program in conjunction with state governments and local academies. Currently, 35 independent acad-

PHOTOS: ABOVE, STAFF SGT. SCOTT RAYMOND, ARNG; PREVIOUS SPREAD, STAFF SGT. MARY JUNELL, ARNG