National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program

The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program is a residential education and training program designed for youth ages 16 to 18 who have dropped out of or been expelled from high school. The program consists of three phases: a two-week pre-ChalleNGe residential introduction phase, a 20-week residential phase where participants live in barracks on a National Guard base or training center in a quasi-military environment (wearing uniforms, experiencing military-style discipline) and receive GED preparation classes and programming in eight components (leadership, responsible citizenship, service to community, life-coping skills, physical fitness, health and hygiene, job skills, and academic excellence), and a one-year post-residential structured mentoring phase where trainees select their own mentors who are screened and trained by the program and meet with trainees a minimum of four hours per month. Each site accepts an average of 100 trainees per cohort. The program is offered free of charge to participants.