KINGWOOD, W.Va. — The 53rd Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy class started 22 weeks ago with 184 members, Friday 148 young men and women graduated with renewed hopes for the future.
State Adjutant General James Hoyer says the MCA is a volunteer program for young people from 16 to 18 years old who are educationally at-risk, drug-free, mentally and physically capable.
“Over 56 percent of our kids come from a single parent head of household, we’ve got kids that for some reason school just didn’t work,”Hoyer said. “We’ve got kids who have been through difficult circumstances due to the opioid crisis, we’ve got kids from all different issues.”
Hoyer said the structure, discipline and care the training staff offers allows the cadets to gain confidence and achieve their potential.
Class 53 also included the first 14 graduates of the Mountaineer Job Challenge Program(MJCP). The MJCP is career and vocational program that offers certifications in advanced manufacturing, medical technology and pre-apprenticeship in the build and trades.
“One young man that came across the stage today, yesterday thought he was going to a job interview,” Hoyer said. “He got the job on the spot and his employer let him off today so he could go to graduation.”
Class members also completed 122 community projects that were valued at more than $225,000.
The overall top cadet and winner of the Robert C Byrd Distinguished Cadet Award and the “Esprit De Corps” award was David Turner, of Dunbar.
“Me and school we really don’t go together too well,” Turner said. “I wasn’t as motivated as I should be and I was falling behind, I didn’t think I what it took to graduate.”
Turner heard about the academy from a friend who attended and decided to apply.
“I found out about the academy from my friend, Ethan Hackman and I saw what it did for him,” Turner said. “After that I looked into it and I came, now 22 weeks later I’m the best person I’ve ever been.
Turner has joined the US Navy as an electrician technician.
Graduates of the class have been trained for jobs in agriculture, food service, manufacturing, hospitality or prepared for post-secondary education.