Capital Guardian Youth Challenge Academy Welcomes Spring 2021 Class

Photo By Staff Sgt. Amanda Bodony | Cadets inprocess at the District of Columbia National Guard Capital Guardian Youth Challenge Academy, Laurel, MD, Mar. 29, 2021. The CGYCA is a life intervention, dropout reintegration, and GED preparatory program, run by the District of Columbia National Guard in partnership with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Amanda Bodony)  

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES

04.19.2021

Story by Senior Airman Amanda Bodony  

DC National Guard

WASHINGTON – The Spring 2021 class of the Capital Guardian Youth Challenge Academy began filing into their new home in the barracks for the next five months. On March 29, 2021, each cadet was given haircuts, uniforms and basic fundamental training to kick off their time in the program.

The CGYCA is a life intervention, dropout reintegration and General Education Development (GED) preparatory program run by the District of Columbia National Guard, in partnership with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia. In the early 1990s, Congress authorized the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program as a preventive program geared towards at-risk youth ranging from ages 16 to 18.

“The Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy is an opportunity to change lives through providing structure, discipline, organizational skills, professional skills, life coping skills, emotional intelligence and academic improvement for our youth who are willing to embrace change and commit to growth,” said Samuel Brown, Acting Director of the CGYCA.

Through the CGYCA program, graduates have been able to re-enter the public school systems as stronger students, better citizens in their communities and, most importantly, gain a unique experience unlike any other. This program positively impacts the community by offering a scholarship to young adults and their families that may require additional options from the traditional educational system.

“The CGYCA is a highly effective, alternate education opportunity for the youth of the nation’s capital and its surrounding areas,” said Geoffrey Adams, Commandant of the CGYCA. “My role as the Commandant of the CGYCA has been rewarding for me because I can see myself in some of our cadets. It took a village of individuals with hearts of gold to help guide and steer me into the life I currently have. I often run into former cadets at the metro or in grocery stores and they thank me for the impact the CGYCA staff have made on them and where their life has taken them.”

CGYCA program’s mission is rooted in a second chance – an opportunity for young people to make improvements for themselves and those around them. According to their website, the CGYCA experience has transformed the lives of over 179,000 youth to date.

• Date Taken: 04.19.2021
• Date Posted: 04.19.2021 11:12
• Story ID: 394168
• Location: WASHINGTON, DC, US