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Jun 19, 2006

YOUTH CHALLENGE PUTS GRADUATES ON PATH TO SUCCESS

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By Rosemarie Bernardo
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI

Halfway through the 11th grade, Jonathan Vance was using heroin and dropped out of American Fork High School in Utah.

Two months after completing a drug rehabilitation program, his uncle Byron Vance of Ala Moana suggested that he attend the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy.

Vance, then 18, moved to Hawaii in hopes of getting his high school diploma through the program.

Five months later, Vance, now 19, was honored at a ceremony yesterday with the director’s academic award for obtaining the highest score for the general equivalency diploma tests.

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