CAMP GUERNSEY, Wyo. - Being withdrawn, or on the verge of leaving high school, has always been one of the criteria for at-risk 16- to 18-year-olds to gain admission to the National Guard-sponsored Wyoming Cowboy ChalleNGe Academy in its almost 10-year history.
In the program’s brochure, “earn a GED or high school credits” is at the top of the list for what a successful cadet can accomplish during the 22-week residential phase of the program based at Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center.
Now, WCCA graduates can add earning college credit to their list of what a successful cadet can accomplish.
The academy’s 23rd class recently graduated; it was the second group to have the advantage of earning a college credit in one of three vocational skills from Eastern Wyoming College, in Torrington.
Students attend five 5-hour sessions in one of three disciplines; computer applications, food handling or welding.
“I love it,” said 17-year-old Raegan Dumont, of Evanston, one of two female cadets who chose the introductory welding program. “I didn’t think I’d like it, but I’m catching on fast and it’s cool to be a girl doing what guys do.”
Trinity Godier agreed. “I thought we’d just be in a classroom, and all that boring stuff,” the 17-year-old from Cody said after lifting the shield of her welding helmet. “It’s awesome. We get to learn something we’ve never done before. I’d consider this a career option now.”
WCCA Director Ed Meyer said that is one of the goals of the new benefit offered to cadets.
“We don’t expect them to be experts, but we want to expose them to potential career options and increase their employability; let them know they can be successful at that level,” he explained.
WCCA was one of only five of the 35 ChallenNGe programs in the country to have its U.S. Department of Labor grant proposal accepted for the vocational skills program.
While some of the skills training opened up new windows of opportunity, others matched up well with what the cadets already envisioned as career options.
Cody Stogsdill, 16, of Cheyenne, had long-term plans to attend culinary arts school. He said after a few weeks of EWC’s “ServSafe” instruction, he’s glad he has a jump start on that path.
“It’s helped a lot,” he said. “Knowing about pathogens and food-borne illnesses and proper sanitation and food handling techniques and how to do things correctly is cool.”
Austin Vanhaneth, 17, also of Cheyenne, has been a photography enthusiast for a long time. He enrolled in the computer class where he and his classmates learned how to incorporate photos into a PowerPoint presentation, researched career fields, colleges and crafted a resume, among other skills pertinent to their personal interests.
“I never thought about doing this for a job,” Vanhaneth said.
“We teach one, two and three-hour versions of this class,” said instructor Patricia Pulliam. “So (the cadets) are taking an actual class we teach. It’s good for personal use and most employers want us to have some computer skills.
We’re going deeper than a lot of jobs would require. They are all good, fast learners.”
Meyer said he hopes the cadets can say to themselves, “I can do it. I’m a college student. I can do this.”
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.10.2015 13:06 |
| Story ID: | 159657 |
| Location: | CAMP GUERNSEY, WYOMING, US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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