BUTLERVILLE, Ind., - Tracie Collier could not make herself stop crying.
Every time that the proud mother from Nicholasville, Ky., thought about her son, Pvt. Caleb Collier, receiving his high school diploma, the tears would start again … not for her son, but for the father who didn’t live to see his son graduate.
“I can’t even come up with the words for how proud I am of him,” Collier said through the sniffles. “Never thought I’d see the day and his Dad would be proud.”
The second Patriot Academy graduation was the culmination of hard work on the part of the students, Soldiers who were given a second chance by the Army National Guard to earn an Indiana accredited high school diploma.
High school drop-outs are recruited from all 54 states and territories and given the chance to make something better of themselves by serving their country and state while getting a much-needed education.
Army Brig. Gen. Clif Tooley, the assistant adjutant general for the Indiana National Guard, told the assembled students and parents in his keynote speech that the drop-out rate in America isn’t just an alarming statistic; it’s a national security threat.
“We cannot ignore these young people in today’s world,” he said. “We have to help these kids become students, become soldiers, become productive members of society wherever they go. The Patriot Academy is designed to do just that.”
To graduate from the Patriot Academy, students must do more than simple homework … they must be working Soldiers while going to school, learning warrior tasks and completing no less than 8 hours of community service. Most not only do the minimum required of them, they excel for the first time in their lives.
Army Col. Perry Sarver, commandant of the Patriot Academy, believes that the attention paid to the students by the school cadre is key to its success.
“We don’t just send them to school and forget them,” he said. “We help them with daily life, getting them help in any area they need. The cadre know these students like their own kids.”
Minor changes were brought about between the first and second class at the Patriot Academy, but no change has a more lasting effect than the addition of female students.
In their first year, Pvt. Adath Allen of Arizona, a female, was valedictorian. Another female Soldier, Pvt. Amber Fleming, held the highest physical training score in the school with an extended score of 327.
“The females really showed the males up this time around,” Sarver said. “It was good to watch the men realize they weren’t the only ones who could do the job.”
Arizona not only managed to have the top student, but the salutatorian, Pvt. Jeffrie Ashcraft, as well.
Army Lt. Col. Cosme Lopez, the Arizona recruiting and retention commander, who made the trip to Indiana to watch his Soldiers receive their diplomas and other accolades, couldn’t be happier with the showing from his state.
“This is amazing,” he said. “Right now, we have about 19 waiting in the pipeline through the Patriot Academy. So for us in Arizona, we really appreciate and find that this organization, the program itself, is worthy of sending soldiers to.”
Vernon, Ind., Mayor Dan Wright was happy to attend the ceremony in order to support the activities of the Patriot Academy in his backyard.
As part of their community service time, students from the Patriot Academy had traveled to Vernon in order to build a playground for community children. “I get excited when I see these kids out here having a life-changing experience and graduating from school,” he said after the ceremony. “They look excited by their future and that makes me excited.”
As valedictorian of the class, Allen was encouraged by the Academy cadre to keep up her studies which was the push she says she needed to get through her schooling.
“In a regular public school, it was too hard for me to stay focused, she said. "Here, it’s all about the discipline and doing yourself an honor by getting the work done.
“The cadre won’t do your work for you. They won’t do your community service for you. They don’t give you answers, but they give you all the help you need. You get out of this place what you put in. You really do here.”