At the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program Invitational, “at risk” teens in between events spoke about life pressures that led them to drop out of high school.
Danielle Moore, 17, of Baltimore, said a former boyfriend almost led her astray. She dated a drug dealer. “I wasn?t going to school,” she said. “If I wasn?t here, I would be in jail.”
Robbie Sanders, 16, is a Perry Hall High School dropout. “When I was in middle school I hung out with the wrong people. [In high school] I didn?t like how they would teach me,” he said.
According to program officials, each day more than2,500 students drop out of high school. The volunteer-based program helps faltered youth find their way by combining military-style physical training with academic components.
The invitational includes 600 cadets from 12 states. They will compete in events such as softball, basketball, volleyball and drill team.
Cadets go through an hour of physical training every morning and five hours of academic instruction each day. Every cadet is taught a GED curriculum in order to graduate with a vision.
Joe Padilla of the National Guard Bureau, leader of the program, says he strongly believes in its power to help troubled youths. “It?s about setting standards, maintaining a standard and expecting a standard,” he said.
Sanders, along with many other Maryland cadets, has used the program to gain perspective on life and acquire goals for the working world.
Sanders, of Perry Hall, wants to enlist in the Army as a part of the airborne infantry. His friend Shon Daniels, 18, of Catonsville, sees himself graduating and going to culinary school.
Moore will graduate from the National Guard program June 17. She has already joined the Army, and reports to Missouri July 12 with the goal of becoming a medic. “I like helping people,” she said.
The University of Maryland, College Park campus hosts the physical challenge invitational through Saturday.
