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May 21, 2006

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NATIONAL GUARD PROGRAM HELPS LOCAL TEENAGERS
Appalachian News-Express, KY
By: Lindsay Lancaster

Pike Countian Nathan Morrison,18, was heading down the wrong path until he entered the National Guard Youth Foundation's Bluegrass ChalleNGe Academy, a program that provides at-risk youth a chance to turn their lives around.

The program, which lasts for 22-weeks and is open to males and females, uses a quasi-military environment to offer the candidates job and life skills, higher education and self-esteem. Upon completion of the program, a follow-up program entailing volunteer mentoring from the cadets' home communities is implemented for a year to help keep the graduate on the right path.

Joe Warren, the Academy's Mentor Coordinator, said the program is a lot like basic training in that participants do a lot of physical training and they learn discipline.

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