Program helps at-risk youths

By DONALD LEE
Advocate columnist
Published: Jun 9, 2007 - Page: 7b

When I wrote a piece two years ago on the Louisiana National Guard's Youth ChalleNGe Program, I was impressed to learn from the young cadets just how much being in the program meant to them and how it helped them to turn their lives around after they'd dropped out of school.

Now, two years later, I'm seeing firsthand the difference it's making in the lives of young people such as Jimmy Keller, a 17-year-old Baton Rouge cadet enrolled in the program in Pineville.

Keller and I were paired in the program a few months ago after a friend called me and encouraged me to participate in the program as a mentor.

The past few months I've been corresponding with Keller over the phone and through letters, and visiting him at Camp Beauregard in Pineville really has been neat.

When Keller was in town last month, he and I participated in a walk-a-thon and spent a little time horseback riding, which he's mentioned he'd like to do again after he graduates from the program on June 16.

He keeps me abreast of how he's coming along as he pursues his GED, and I share with him words of encouragement.

In its first phase, the Youth ChalleNGe Program functions as a five-month, military-style school for at-risk youths 16 to 18 years old. The youths are given the opportunity to work on their education and life skills in a structured, disciplined environment.

The program, which has facilities in Pineville, Minden and Carville, is run by trained National Guard personnel and employs Louisiana-certified instructors and offers at-risk adolescents an opportunity to obtain a high school equivalency diploma.

The program curriculum combines classroom work, community service, physical training, and challenging individual and team activities. There's a heavy emphasis on life-coping skills, educational excellence, responsible citizenship, sex education, physical fitness and community involvement.

The second part of the program is called a 12-month post-residential phase, in which case managers and community mentors assist cadets in putting into action goals they've set in the first phase, or residential phase.

During the post-residential phase cadets are monitored as they return to their communities to continue their education or begin employment.

Maj. Kenneth Capello, the program's post-residential supervisor, said approximately 60 percent of the youths participating in the program have been from the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas. About 200 students, including 30 girls, are in the program at Camp Beauregard.

"The majority of the students that we get are good students, but they somehow fell between the cracks in the public school system," Capello said. "We're able to spend one-on-one quality time with the students during the residential phase."

Capello said mentors really have helped to make a difference in the the youths' lives.

"The key to our success is the mentoring portion of the program during the               post-residential phase," he said. "So there is follow-up and guidance from program staff and the mentor volunteers."

On June 16, Cadet Jimmy Keller will be among 200 youths wearing caps and gowns as they graduate from the program, though the graduates' progress will be monitored by staff and mentors an additional 12 months.

For information about the Youth ChalleNGe Program, call 1 (800) CAMPKID.