CAMP MURRAY, Wash. - The Washington Military Department recently opened its first Challenge program academy in Bremerton for at-risk students.
"The Washington Youth Academy is the ultimate investment in the future of our great state," said Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, the state adjutant general. "These youth are here because they have a future, and their experience at the WYA will resonate with them for the rest of their lives."
About 120 students from around the state signed up for the WYA's first class that began Jan. 25.
The academy, which is sponsored by federal, state and local agencies including the Bremerton School District, is one of 33 programs around the country. All are part of the National Guard's Youth Challenge program, established about 15 years ago.
The new $5 million complex includes a 17,000-square-foot facility, which houses a dormitory wing, administrative offices and a computer lab. Additional modular buildings will add five classrooms to the campus. Renovations will also be made to the existing armory.
The program is free for students, said Bill Pettit, WYA's director, but they must meet several requirements, such as no felony convictions, drug-free at the time of enrollment and legal residency.
According to a press release, the WYA's mission is to provide a highly disciplined, safe and professional residential learning environment that empowers at-risk youth to become responsible and productive citizens of Washington.
"This program, because it's residential, gives kids an opportunity to come to a safe place, be fed three meals a day, and focus on nothing but their future," Lynn Caddell, principal of the academy and the Renaissance alternative schools in Bremerton, told the Bremerton News Tribune.
After a rigorous five-month residential program, the academy will graduate its first class in a ceremony slated for June 27.
After completing this phase, the students are sent home with personal goals that community mentors will help them achieve over the next year, Pettit said.