Dream.
Believe.
ACHIEVE.
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program was established by Congress in 1993 to turn around the lives of young men and women between the ages of 16 and 18 who are experiencing difficulty in completing traditional high school. This is a free program open to Georgia residents.
ADMISSIONS INFO
Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Program Campus Update
(May 27, 2020) At this time, all Georgia Youth ChalleNGe campuses remain close until further notice, and although public activities have begun to reopen, schools are still closed.
We truly understand that many families are looking for a new alternative education program for their children who are in need of a structured academic setting. Our program offers this “Second Chance” to those young people who desire to make the tough decision to change their lives by taking the challenge of our tuition-free program.
We look forward to the opportunity to bring cadets back to our campuses so they can continue to change their lives in a structured and positive manner that will allow them to become the productive and confident young people they want to be.
The staff of the Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Program are currently focused on the safety of the cadets, cadre and staff by diligently cleaning the facilities and preparing a new daily operation plan to include medical screening and social distancing in all areas of the facility. These new procedures will allow everyone on campus to remain safe during this pandemic.
Each campus has been working to develop these comprehensive plans based on the best information from the state level officials to include the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), that have guided the entire Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Program and the Georgia Department of Defense in the planning our next steps in moving forward to reopening the campuses safely.
This is still a very a fluid process and your patience and flexibility are sincerely appreciated. We will continue to provide information about our schedule to reopen our campuses once we have that information.
If you have any questions, you can contact us at info@gaycp.org.
Cadet Life
I personally volunteered for the Youth Challenge Program. I watched my brother skip a year of high school because of YCA and he graduated with his diploma in class #45 so I followed behind him in class #46. The first day wasn’t a fairy tale, they call the first two weeks hell weeks. Hell it ...
I went to YCA on my 17th birthday on July 19, 2015 and graduated on Dec 19, 2015. I was kicked out of my house and had nowhere else to turn to, so I ended up at YCA to try and finish high school to have more opportunities further in life. At first, it was very hard. I had trouble opening up to ...
My name is Kameryn Lavender. I graduated YCA in Milledgeville in April of 2019 Class 5. In the beginning, it was difficult. I say it was difficult because it’s a program for DIFFICULT KIDS! You go in not knowing what to expect. Sometimes there was arguing and fighting, sometimes things ...
Thanks to Youth ChalleNGe, Sharrieff feels that he certainly dodged the bullet of incarceration. Now he is a student at Atlanta Technical College taking an Avionics Bench Technician course, and will soon be transferring to Middle Georgia State University to finish obtaining his private ...
I graduated from Fort Stewart Youth ChalleNGe Academy in June 2005. I joined the US Army in September 2005, and served 12 years before getting out this past July. If it wasn't for attending YCA, I probably wouldn't be were I'm at right now. This was definitely one of ...
Since graduating from the Milledgeville Youth ChalleNGe Academy in October 2017, Devon has been a cook at Waffle House and has steadily increased his start pay of $7.25 to $10.25 per hour. Devon also just completed his first semester at West Georgia Tech studying welding. He has found his ...
My son was failing school, relationships, mostly himself. He was on a dangerous road heading for destruction. He went to Challenge when he was 16 years old. He learned and accomplished so much. He learned self-discipline, improved his self-esteem ten-fold, graduated high school with HONORS!! He ...
I love this place. My son was going to end up dead or in jail before attending YCA. Now, he is very respectful and thinking about his future. He has done a complete turn around. I'm so thankful for this program. So happy my child could take part in something truely this special.
This is an awesome place for kids who need structure in order to get themselves together. I saw my son for the 1st time in 6 weeks yesterday and he has changed so much. Best decision.
I am a YCA graduate; the program definitely did have challenges and hard times, but I feel like the program set me straight and prepared me to be a successful person later on in life.
I'm happy that my daughter agreed to go to YCA and be away from all family and friends. We miss her, but we know she is doing her best to succeed in the program!!!
This program has done such an amazing job with my son in just 30 days! I already see a change in not only his attitude, but his will to better himself as a young man. I'm a single mom who had done all I knew to do with minimum help and I refused to allow him to fail at life. I battled with ...