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Jun 7, 2006

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GUARD VOLUNTEERS CHALLENGE YOUTHS TO DREAM BIG
by Meghan Shapiro
The Examiner, MD

BALTIMORE - At the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program Invitational, "at risk" teens in between events spoke about life pressures that led them to drop out of high school.

Danielle Moore, 17, of Baltimore, said a former boyfriend almost led her astray. She dated a drug dealer. "I wasn't going to school," she said. "If I wasn't here, I would be in jail."

Robbie Sanders, 16, is a Perry Hall High School dropout. "When I was in middle school I hung out with the wrong people. [In high school] I didn't like how they would teach me," he said.

According to program officials, each day more than 2,500 students drop out of high school. The volunteer-based program helps faltered youth find their way by combining military-style physical training with academic components.

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