PUBLICATION DATE: December 19, 2022
WI NATIONAL GUARD RELEASE: At-risk students step into future armed with tools for success
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by Staff Sgt. Alice Ripberger

SPARTA, Wis. ? Seventy cadets from 29 counties graduated from the Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy in a ceremony Saturday, Dec. 17 at Sparta High School.

The Wisconsin Challenge Academy is a completely voluntary, free-for-participants, character-building alternative education program at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin that helps 16-18-year-olds at risk of not graduating high school earn their high school equivalency diploma. Using a structured, military-style environment, state-certified teachers and counselors not only build cadets? academic abilities, but also teach them leadership skills, self-confidence and personal discipline.

Joni Mathews, Challenge Academy director, stated that she is most proud of the fact that the graduating cadets made the choice to finish the program.

?They stuck it out and took the courage to change their lives, attain a high school education and move towards the goals they set for themselves,? she said.

Elie McDonald, the distinguished honor graduate and resident of Neenah, Wisconsin, addressed her graduating class and emphasized that every single one of the graduates should be beyond proud of themselves.

?We now have the tools and resources required to overcome obstacles and have successful futures,? McDonald said.

McDonald asked each cadet to think of someone who supported them during their time at the academy. She extended her gratitude to the academy staff, mentors, peers, families, friends and partners who helped the cadets accomplish their goals at the academy.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Hunnel, keynote speaker, encouraged graduating cadets to remain on the positive path the program has set them on.

?Continue to grow and push yourself to your fullest potential,? Hunnel said.

McDonald pointed out that the academy offered students the tools and resources they would need to continue to grow and move towards their goals post-graduation.

After graduating from the 22-week residential phase of academy training, cadets work for 12 months with hometown mentors who offer guidance and encouragement in pursuing their new direction in life.

Cadet Jonathan Hughes-Pettigrew of Milwaukee said he is excited to keep up the routine he established at the Challenge Academy, and to start a job he got while at the academy. He broke into a smile as he shared what he is looking forward to after graduation.

?I really am looking forward to seeing my family and enjoying a fish fry,? he said.

Cadet Autumn Johnson, from Elroy, Wisconsin, stated that the first thing she will do after graduation is add all of the friends she made in the program on social media so that she can continue to stay connected to the positive community that the Challenge Academy built around her.

?For any kids thinking about doing the Challenge Academy, do it,? Johnson said. ?It is worth it.?

The National Guard Youth Challenge Program currently operates 40 programs in 29 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Nationwide, more than 190,000 teens have graduated from this free program since its inception in 1993.

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