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.
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Upcoming Events
Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Program UPDATE (August 25, 2020)
Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Academies have completed Week One with cadets on campus.
The Georgia Youth ChalleNGe program welcomed students back to the campuses at Fort Gordon, Fort Stewart, and Job ChalleNGe Academy during the weekend of 15-17 August for the first time since all campuses were closed due to the pandemic back in March of this year.
The Fort Stewart campus welcomed 80 candidates to their campus. Some of these cadets are continuing their path toward a positive future from class #54 when they were sent home back in March due to the pandemic.
The Fort Gordon campus had 83 candidates report to their campus. These candidates were scheduled to begin their personal journey toward success with YCA back in March and were resilient and patient while the pandemic took hold of our country.
The Georgia Job Challenge Academy, also located at Fort Stewart, brought in 22 associates on Saturday, August 15th, as they prepare to begin their unique vocational training program with Savannah Technical College and Coastal Pines Technical College.
Thinking Safety
During the shutdown, each campus has adapted daily operations to maintaining a positive environment that puts the health and safety of our students first. The staff prepared their campus facilities to meet Department of Public Health requirements to keep our students safe. Social distancing, smaller class sizes, and other appropriate measures have been developed so that all cadets and staff can operate in a safe environment. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic and will update this website and our social media platforms as the situation requires to best inform the public on our future operations.
To find out more about how GAYCP is focusing on COVID-19 mitigation, click here to find out more.
NOW is the time to apply to the Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Academy?
Now that we have reopened our campuses, families interested in an alternative education program that provides both a structured education platform and a program that teaches personal responsibility and character development, there is urgency in getting a GAYCP application submitted.
Our limited capacity will continue into the next year!
As we now begin our admissions process for our January 2021 classes at both Fort Stewart and Fort Gordon. It is expected that we will continue to have reduced class sizes due to the social distancing requirements we are currently experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
APPLY NOW to the Georgia Youth ChalleNGe Program for a challenging and productive adventure towards becoming the successful men and women of the future. Check us out at www.georgiayouthchallenge.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 ...