Wisconsin Challenge Academy:
 

10 years of saving young lives

By Brig. Gen. Don Dunbar

The Adjutant General of Wisconsin

Ten years ago this fall, the Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy opened its doors. Since then, it’s been more than repaying its low cost of operation by turning “at-risk” youths into productive citizens.

On Aug. 27, I had the honor of speaking at the academy’s 10th anniversary ceremony and meeting a few of the 1,620 young adults who have turned their lives around at the academy.

“The first 24 hours were probably the scariest — new clothes, new surroundings, new faces, and a new routine that for most of us was extremely alien and uncomfortable,” said Jennifer Harrison, a 2002 academy graduate, recalling her first hours as a cadet. But after a while, she said, things got better: “We were being held accountable for our actions and disciplined when we failed to meet those standards, which for many of us was a foreign concept.”

Jennifer, who had been on a slippery slope to self-destruction as a teen-ager, found in the Challenge Academy a path to mature and responsible adulthood. She is now a U.S. Army veteran, the mother of a young daughter and the wife of a soldier currently deployed with the 1st Cavalry Division to Baghdad. She is studying full-time to be a social worker and feels there is meaning and purpose in her life.

 “Here’s to many more years of success [for the academy], and many more years of giving lost teenagers the chance to have the Courage to Change,” she said.

Kenneth Holub, a Challenge Academy classmate of Jennifer’s, had a similar experience.

“Before I came to the Challenge Academy,” he said, “I was… using drugs, skipping school, and failing my classes….

“I wouldn’t be a good father or a good husband or family man [today] had I not come to this program. I hope that we, as citizens, can keep helping young people get back on track with their lives like I did.”

Six years after graduation, Ken is a successful sales representative — among the top 50 out of 3,200 — for TruGreen ChemLawn, as well as a husband and the father of two small children.

Then there was the testimony of Sue Rustebakke, mother of Adam, a December 2002 graduate.

“By the time Adam was a junior,” she said, “things seemed hopeless. He’d given up on school…. Life at home was horrible. He was headed for jail, drug use, and dead-end low-paying jobs….

“I left my son at Fort McCoy that July day in 2002 — What a relief. It was only after I had time to decompress, enjoy some good sleep, and get some space and perspective that I realized just how much all these issues with my son had affected me….

“I used those months to heal and repair my life so I could be a fully functioning, effective person again. Many families use the respite while their cadet is at Challenge Academy to get back on their feet and finally take care of issues shoved to the back burner….

“I hoped CA would help my son. I didn’t realize how much it would help me.”

Wow — what stories. And these are only three, out of more than 1,600 in 10 years.

And, it gets better: The cost of keeping one juvenile in custody for one year is $90,900 — but the cost of the Challenge program is only $5,981 per youth enrolled. That means if only one out of 15 enrolled cadets is diverted from juvenile Corrections for one year, the program pays for itself. And that’s not counting the costs saved on future adult incarceration of the same individuals.

Nor does it take into account the enormous benefit of turning a trouble-bound youth into a productive, contributing adult — a gift that keeps on giving, many decades into the future.

As Wisconsin’s adjutant general, I can’t tell you how proud and thrilled I am to command this winning and invaluable institution as part of the overall program of your Wisconsin National Guard.