CARLIN, Nev. – Nevada National Guard leadership visited the Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy this week to meet with the program’s inaugural class of cadets as they transition through the acclimation portion of the course and into the 20-week residential phase.
Brig. Gen. John Week, director of the joint staff, and Brig. Gen. Michael Hanifan, assistant adjutant general, participated in a tour of the facility and inspected the first class of candidates attending the campus.
Cadets performed a marching drill and ceremony demonstration during the visit. The generals also spoke to the candidates just before they had their ceremonious climb to a nearby hill where they would transition from candidate to cadet after completing the two-week acclimation phase, formally accepted into the program, and receive their dog tags.
“The purpose of this program is to teach high school-aged students life skills and catch them up on any credits that may prevent them from graduating,” Hanifan said.
BBYCA is a tuition-free educational program of the National Guard and the State of Nevada. Participation is voluntary, and the academy uses a quasi-military model to reclaim the potential of disproportionately affected youth across the state. It is designed to help students age 16-18 earn or make up lost credits to graduate with their class.
The inaugural class just finished its two-week acclimation phase. Next will be the 20-week residential phase and will conclude with a 12-month post-residential phase.
Hanifan addressed the students and encouraged them to keep themselves safe and healthy during the program’s remainder and never quit.
“This program will help students develop the discipline that will help them follow through with the goals they set for themselves,” Week said. “They are going to form some friends here that will follow them their entire lives.”
“I’m very impressed with this inaugural class we have here,” Week said. Week admitted that after observing the students marching in formation many of them marched better and looked more precise than a good portion of those in his Air Force Basic training course more than 30 years ago.
Week held up a coin to the class and promised he would return and give the coin to each of the graduates upon their completion of the course.
The ceremony concluded with program director Lauren Schulman giving the students, staff, and cadre a pep talk before leaving the general officers to climb a nearby hill, signifying the student’s transition from candidate to cadet.
“I personally want to thank everyone who put this program together,” Hanifan said. “Without the leadership on the ground here from Lauren Schulman and her staff, this program wouldn’t have gone anywhere. This program will only continue to grow. If you know a high school student that is at risk of not graduating, please reach out and recommend them.”
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