who doesn’t know that you should wash your hands before you come out of the bathroom. No one ever told him.”

The heart of the matter In week 15 at the Hoosier Youth ChalleNGe Academy, Daugherty helps cadets face fears — and fi nd confi dence — on the obstacle course. Before joining the program, they might have stood up to vicious bullies, violent gangs, or abusive parents, but he has seen them quake on the brink of a 40-foot drop. “Some of these guys, you get them up there and they’re just shaking; their hearts are frozen with fear,” he says. “They build up the courage because they

have people saying, ‘You can do it.’ ” Wearing protective gear and clutching a rope, over they go. “Once they get down to the ground and they look up, that sense of accomplishment is kind of overwhelming,” Daugherty says. Perhaps one of the most important lessons the cadets learn is that someone cares. “The cadres are there 24 hours a day, 7

Post- graduation (left, at the Tarheel Chal- leNGe Acad- emy, N.C.), mentors play a critical role. Aca- demic and vocational offerings (below) are part of the curriculum at the Wash- ington Youth Academy.

days a week. It’s overwhelming at times,” Daugherty admits. Nevertheless, he says, “I think this is one of the best jobs I’ve ever had.” “It’s a challenging world, we all knew that going in, but something happens every day at ChalleNGe that makes you want to come back,” Batten says. When the cadets walk across the stage at

their graduation ceremony, their newfound self-esteem shines through. They leave the quasi-military phase of the program nervous, excited, determined; carrying with them dreams of college, of joining the military, of being a good parent, of making a diff erence. During the 12-month post-residential phase,

ChalleNGe graduates return to high school, pursue higher education, fi nd a job, join the military, or volunteer at least 30 hours a week. Mentors play a critical role in helping the grad- uates stay true to those dreams as they leave the structured environment of the residential phase and return home to face the temptations and distractions that originally might have de- railed them. Mentors off er advice and encour- agement and model commitment. “The program wouldn’t be successful without the mentor relationship,” Batten says. Mentors are volunteers chosen by the cadets themselves. They are formally screened and trained. Sometimes they provide things for the kids that the parents can’t — or won’t — every- thing from shampoo and stamps to attention.

Stepping up Beverly dropped out of school because of fam- ily problems. She was labeled “unteachable.” After graduating from the Mississippi Youth ChalleNGe Academy, she received a $20,000

DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE

Watch video from the CBS Evening News on the ChalleNGe Academy program. Download the MOAA Publications tablet app in the iTunes store or in Google Play.

54 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2015

PHOTOS: ABOVE, WASHINGTON NATIONAL GUARD; TOP, SGT. 1ST CLASS ROBERT JORDAN, ARNG; FACING PAGE, MASTER SGT. A.J. COYNE, ARNG