Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Carmen Fleischmann | Today 144 cadets completed phase one of the Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy, a...... read more read more
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ORANGE PARK, Florida (Dec. 17, 2019) – Today at the Thrasher-Horne Center, 144 cadets of class 37 of the Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy officially completed the first stage of their journey towards a successful future.
The Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy (FLYCA), is a Florida National Guard funded, community-based program that leads, trains and mentors 16- to 18-year old high school dropouts or those at risk of quitting school, and helps them develop the necessary skills to become upstanding citizens and productive members of society.
Today’s graduation ceremony marks the completion of phase one, a rigorous five-and-a-half-month residential phase which loosely mirrors a U.S. military basic training.
Throughout this phase cadets have the option to participate in credit recovery in order to return to high school or they can work toward earning their State of Florida High School Diploma through the GED testing service and even dual enroll in college courses. The path they choose to take makes the experience unique to each cadet.
For class valedictorian Matthew Caldwell from Clearwater, the experience completely transformed his life.
“Before coming here I had a lot of anxiety but when I came into a structured, military environment, it kind of enabled me to relax … I started to calm down more and I started to be able to just get on top of things, get what I needed to get done, done,” said Caldwell.
Matthew joined as a sophomore on the verge of failing out of high school, but after completing the program he now has a GED and is looking forward to attending a community college, the next step in his pursuit of a career in mechanical engineering.
“[The program] really allowed for me to start over and excel,” said Matthew. “Now I can go to a community college and have my associate’s before my regular high school class graduates.”
During the ceremony FLYCA Program Director, U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. (Ret) James Ransom read aloud from an email he received the night prior. It came from the mother of a cadet who had graduated during a previous cycle but who knew Cadet Caldwell all his life and was witness to his struggles at home and in school. Matthew’s mother had reached out to her about the program since it has been so successful for her son. She was both astonished and proud that Matthew had gone from high school failure to valedictorian in such a short period of time.
“Yes, Cadet Caldwell’s journey is and has been different but one of him seeing and knowing that it’s ok,” said Ransom. “We all make stupid choices and decisions that don’t always play out the way we think or want them to but today will be his time to receive the fruits of his labor over the past five-and-a-half months as the valedictorian.”
In Matthew’s address to his fellow graduates he encouraged them to continue forward on this newly created path and not revert back to old habits and versions of their former selves. He remarked that the entire experience, while new and scary at times, was worth every moment.
“I remember wanting to show my family the change I had already experienced and I remember the pride in my mom’s face when I saw her at family day and I knew I was on the right path,” said Matthew. “I believe the time I spent here and my experiences have helped set me up for a successful future.”
After graduation, the cadets will move on to phase two, a 12-month program in which they use their newly acquired skills and help from a community-based mentor, to secure employment, further their education or join the military.
The FLYCA program began in 2001 under the direction of former Adjutant General of Florida, Maj. Gen. (Ret) Ronald Harrison, and has since graduated over 4,800 teenagers which have gone on to serve in a variety of career fields.
| Date Taken: | 12.17.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2019 14:18 |
| Story ID: | 356271 |
| Location: | ORANGE PARK, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 376 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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