ANNVILLE, PA — Seventy-five at-risk teens graduated Saturday from the Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy, marking the largest graduating class in the program’s history and closing a rigorous 22-week residential phase designed to put struggling students on a path toward education, employment, and stability.
The cadets completed the residential portion of the Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy at Fort Indiantown Gap, a program aimed at young people ages 16 to 18 who are failing to progress in high school or lack a clear route to graduation. The milestone class logged a combined 3,272 hours of community service, supporting food banks, assisting with the annual March for the Fallen, and maintaining cemeteries, parks, and military ceremony grounds across the region.
Program officials estimate the cadets’ service saved communities up to $93,382 in labor costs. With the residential phase complete, graduates now move into a 24-month mentorship period in their home communities, where they will continue working toward diplomas, GEDs, job training, or further education.
“It was an absolute honor to see our cadets graduate from the Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy today,” said Maj. Gen. John Pippy, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. He credited academy staff for guiding cadets through months of demanding instruction and personal development.
KSCA Director Steve Grossman called the graduating class exceptional, citing strong GED pass rates, recovery of missed academic credits, and significant growth in leadership and followership skills. He encouraged families seeking alternatives for teens struggling in traditional school settings to consider the program, describing its track record for producing successful outcomes as well-established.
The Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy, launched in Pennsylvania in July 2022 as part of the National Guard Bureau’s Youth ChalleNGe Program, introduces cadets to a military-style structure built around eight core components, including academic excellence, physical fitness, leadership, responsible citizenship, job skills, and life coping skills. There is no tuition cost, and participants receive housing, meals, uniforms, and school supplies at no charge.
Since its national inception in 1993, more than 200,000 young people have completed the Youth ChalleNGe Program across the United States. Pennsylvania’s academy is now accepting applications for its next class, scheduled to begin in January, as officials continue expanding access to what they describe as one of the nation’s most effective programs for reconnecting at-risk youth with education and opportunity.
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