Photo By Staff Sgt. Nancy Spicer | Chaplain Sean Lee gave the invocation at the Maryland National Guard Freestate...... read more read more
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – Eighty-five cadets from Class No. 44 from the Maryland National Guard Freestate ChalleNGe Academy at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, participated in a completion ceremony June 13 at the post theater.
The FCA’s mission is to help at-risk teens graduate from the program with the values, skills and education needed to better their lives and succeed as adults.
“The program restores your health and turns you into a better person in 22 weeks,” said Daryl Hubbard, a cadet from Washington, D.C.
The FCA takes young people ages 16 to18 through a 22-week residency program at APG, said Joshua Barlow, the acting lead instructor, and a social studies and citizenship teacher. The cadets wake up every morning at 5 a.m. and conduct physical training. Afterward, they attend classes in areas such as mathematics, social studies, science, literature and writing in preparation to take the GED certification exam.
The FCA focuses on eight core components, Barlow said. These components – life-coping skills, academic excellence, responsible citizenship, health and hygiene, job skills, leadership and followership, physical fitness and service to community – give the cadets hope for the future.
Adeigh Bynum, a cadet from Montgomery County, said she appreciated learning responsibility and accountability while at the FCA.
“Without responsibility and accountability, people don’t trust you,” Bynum said. “Without it, you don’t get opportunities.”
Since 1993, more than 4,000 cadets have completed the FCA program. Of these, about 15 to 20 percent have enlisted in the military.
Barlow, who has been teaching at the FCA for the last seven years said he enjoys working with teens like Bynum and Hubbard.
“When I see a change in behaviors and that dawning moment where someone is maturing and becoming more educated, that’s very fulfilling,” Barlow said.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.15.2015 21:11 |
| Story ID: | 166734 |
| Location: | ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD, US |
| Hometown: | BALTIMORE, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cadets accept the ChalleNGe, strive for better future, by SSG Nancy Spicer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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