MEDIA ADVISORY
WHAT: Class 34 of The Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy Graduation.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Thrasher Horne Center for the Arts, 283 College Drive, Orange Park, Fla.
Florida’s Youth ChalleNGe Academy is operated by the Florida Department of Military Affairs and the Florida National Guard. Designed on a military model, Tuesday’s graduation celebrates 16- to 19-year-old students’ completion of the rigorous five-and-a-half month residential phase. The Academy is geared toward promoting adult responsibilities, values and basic lifestyle changes. Each youth experiences a demanding, highly regimented, motivational climate covering the components of academic excellence, community service, job skills, leadership and physical fitness.
Upon graduation from the in-residence phase, each student is assigned a mentor who provides personal guidance and support for 12 months. In order to successfully complete the program, all students are required to either pursue higher education or gain full-time employment.
Since Florida’s program began in 2001, more than 4,000 cadets have graduated from the residential phase of the program.
