Youth Challenge Academy of Hilo has asked the state Legislature to fund expansion of its building.
Youth Challenge Academy of Hilo has asked the state Legislature to fund expansion of its building.
The live-in program for at-risk males and females in need of diplomas currently has 70 cadets.
Maximum enrollment is essentially capped at 75 cadets because there isn’t enough sleeping space for any more.
“We’d like to be able to expand it to 100 graduating cadets,” said Lt. Col Charles Anthony, director of public affairs for the Hawaii Department of Defense.
That will require sleeping space for about 110-120 students at the beginning of the session.
The program is based at the National Guard facility off Kekuanaoa Street near Hilo International Airport.
About 90 percent of the cadets complete the program.
The high completion rate is due to a rigorous screening process, Anthony said.
The program’s mission is to transform high school dropouts, and students still in school who lack credits to graduate, into “program graduates with the values, life skills, education and self-discipline necessary to succeed as productive citizens,” according to the academy’s website.
Anthony said cadets come from all walks of life, from the poorest-of-the-poor to wealthy families.
“In many cases, it really broadens their horizons,” Anthony said.
Some of the cadets may never have traveled away from home, experienced volunteerism or the benefits that come with exposure to the people, businesses and events seen while volunteering.
Each cadet must complete 100 volunteer hours to graduate. They can be seen volunteering at fundraisers, sports events, farms and building projects.
“The program really seems to work pretty well,” Anthony said.
Among graduates, 75 percent of them enroll in a community college, get a job or enter the military within a year of graduating. Some who attend community college eventually go on to complete four-year degrees at a university.
Anthony said Youth Challenge Academy expansion is among the top five departmental priorities for the National Guard this legislative session.
The Hilo program, he said, “is not just for Big Island students. It accommodates cadets from all the major islands in Hawaii.” There’s an Oahu program that concentrates on specialties such as culinary arts. The Hilo program focuses on trade-related fields like agriculture.
Of course, Anthony said, “it’s really hard when you’re 16, 17, 18 years old to know exactly what you want to do.” But recruiters try to match cadets with the program that will best serve them.
“In some cases, some of them are from homeless families and absolutely they wouldn’t have the means or the opportunity to experience the things that they do,” Anthony said. “It definitely helps.”
Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.