From At-Risk to Resilient: How the SC Youth ChalleNGe Academy Changes Lives

By Mark Andrew Watke

The SC Youth ChalleNGe Academy is a program offered by the National Guard Bureau, located in Eastover, South Carolina. The staff there serve at-risk youth between the ages of 16 and 18. Youth aged 15 ½ may apply and be accepted if they will turn 16 during the middle of the cycle. The academy takes students who are at risk of dropping out, have dropped out, or have been expelled and gives them the opportunity to spend 22 weeks obtaining their GED, high school diploma, or earning academic recovery credits. The academy considers high schools, police departments/sheriff’s offices, churches, therapists, and non-profits to be partners in creating a better future for South Carolina’s youth.

The academy has an educational component, with dedicated teachers on staff to assist at-risk youth in obtaining their GED, high school diploma, or academic recovery credits. Located on McCrady Training Center, the education building houses several classrooms—one for science, one for math, one for English, and one for social studies. They also have two computer labs: one that is a Pearson VUE-certified testing center and another used for credit recovery. The principal, Tamara Watkins, takes great pride in her role assisting at-risk youth and in serving as the math teacher.

Presently, the director is Ronnie Scott, a Marine Corps veteran. Director Ronnie Scott has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Benedict College and is currently working on his master’s degree in leadership. Director Scott loves the opportunity to give back to the community after his long and fruitful military career and has spent over 30 years in project management, budgeting and planning, quality assurance, and management resolution. Director Scott makes it a point to mentor his staff through required leadership and all-hands meetings. Through his briefings, he emphasizes the importance of teamwork—one prominent illustration being cars in a traffic jam. Director Scott emphasizes teamwork in all things.

Cadet Antley was banned from every school in South Carolina, but he was able to make it through the SC Youth ChalleNGe Academy. While he was a cadet at the SC Youth ChalleNGe Academy, he learned important lessons centered on eight core components. The physical training helped him improve his discipline as well as his physique and physical capabilities. He was required to wake up every morning for physical training. Once daily physical training is completed, the cadets are required to attend educational classes with the goal of obtaining their GED, high school diploma, or academic recovery credits. In the evening, they retire to the barracks associated with their platoon.

Other cadets, like Cadet Raleigh, made the most of the opportunity by nurturing their walk with the Lord through the academy. Cadet Rodriguez-Gutierrez had this to say: “It was pretty good. Great staff, amazing teachers.” Many students—who are called cadets—benefit from the program, and the staff continue to support them even after they complete the program.

Director Scott’s goal is for the SC Youth ChalleNGe Academy to become the number one youth-serving program in South Carolina. Recently, a new deputy director has been appointed, Gillian Porterfield, who previously served in multiple positions at the academy.

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Photo Credit: Mark Andrew Watke