HAWAII NATIONAL GUARD’S KULANI YOUTH CHALLENGE ACADEMY TO GRADUATE SECOND CLASS

Posted on Dec 21, 2011 in News Release

HILO, HAWAII- The Hawaii National Guard’s Youth CHalleNGe Academy (HNGYCA) will graduate its second class from the Kulani campus on the Island of Hawaii on Friday December 23rd at the Kamehameha Schools’ Hawaii Campus auditorium.

  For Immediate Release                                                                                         December 21, 2011

 

HAWAII NATIONAL GUARD’S KULANI YOUTH CHALLENGE ACADEMY TO GRADUATE SECOND CLASS

 

 

WHEN:           Friday, December 23, 2011, 10:00 a.m.

 

WHERE:        Kamehameha Schools, Hawaii Campus, Auditorium

16-716 Volcano Road, Keaau, Hawaii 96749

 

WHO:             Major General Darryll D. M. Wong The Adjutant General

Brigadier General Joseph K. Kim, Deputy Adjutant General

Mayor Billy Kenoi, Mayor of Hawaii Island

WHAT:           The Hawaii National Guard’s Youth CHalleNGe Academy will graduate its second class from the Kulani campus on the Island of Hawaii.

HILO, HAWAII- The Hawaii National Guard’s Youth CHalleNGe Academy (HNGYCA) will graduate its second class from the Kulani campus on the Island of Hawaii on Friday December 23rd at the Kamehameha Schools’ Hawaii Campus auditorium. This class includes more than 70 cadets.

 

The first class of cadets at the Kulani campus was held from January to June 2011. This class began in July.

As a part of their community service, the Cadets have assisted with a Special Olympics Bowl-a-thon. They also assisted with the grooming, feeding, and exercising of animals at the Rainbow Sanctuary.  Various beautification projects at the Arc of Hilo were undertaken by the cadets, helping with the clean up of the green house on the property.  Three Cadets also assisted DLNR by planting Silverswords in Kulani.  The Cadets rang bells and caroled with The Salvation Army this holiday season. Cadets also marched in the Veteran’s Day Parade in Hilo Town and the Christmas Parade in Pahoa town.

 

All of the Cadets have participated in the Career Connections Fair by speaking to various businesses, agencies, and recruiters from the Big Island community.  In turn, they all took part in mock interviews held on the Kulani with community businesses leaders and local agencies.  They toured the Pohakuloa Training Area and talked with members from various military branches, and have taken the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The company also toured at Hawaii Community College.

 

Youth Challenge is a five-and-half month residential program, followed by a one-year mentoring phase in which at-risk teens (16-18 years old) are given military style discipline and life coping skills while they study for their high school diplomas.

 

Since 1994, about 3,000 Cadets have graduated from the Hawaii program. The HNGYCA, one of 32 Youth Challenge Programs in the nation, provides opportunities to learn life skills, and to become productive, responsible, and successful citizens.

 

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For more information, contact:

Lt. Col. Charles Anthony

Public Affairs Officer

Phone: (808) 733-4258