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Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy will honor graduating cadets Thursday

KINGWOOD, W.Va. — A class of 73 cadets will graduate Thursday from the West Virginia National Guard’s Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy located in Preston County.

Cadets from 23 counties make up the graduating class, of which 90% will receive a high school diploma. Forty-two cadets will enter the workforce, 18 people will enter vocational trades, and nine cadets will join the military.

The academy is a 22-week program that offers traditional academic courses and vocational training. The program also includes extracurricular activities like hiking, athletics and land navigation.

Sydnei Watson, 16, of Charleston enrolled in the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy because she struggled with virtual lessons amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The online gave me the opportunity to skip out on all the work I had to do,” she explained.

“At first, it was absolutely terrifying. I went in expecting to get screamed at and told to do all this stuff. When I actually got there, I was just told what to do and once I did it, I was not screamed at.”

Shawn Madden, 17, of South Charleston also faced challenges with online learning; he told MetroNews affiliate WAJR-AM he was looking for an education model that would prepare him for the future.

“I learned a lot about how to treat other people and how I like to be treated,” he said.

Madden said he would like to join the military, preferably the U.S. Army.

“I think this is probably a good fit for me because it will help me educationally and it would help me in my life goals,” he said.

After graduating, cadets will participate in a one-year post-residential follow-up program.





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