CHARLESTON, W.Va. — 71 Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy cadets received their diplomas Friday after 22 weeks of rigorous quasi-military training and education.
The MCA is designed as another option for high school-aged youth who experience academic challenges. The academy gives those students an opportunity to receive a high school education in a military-like environment and launches them into their next steps in life.
MCA South held its graduation ceremony in the Geary Auditorium on the University of Charleston’s campus in the Capital City. MCA South Program Director Debi Gipson said 103 students between the ages of 16 and 18 entered the class in January. 71 of those cadets marched across the stage six months later.
Gipson said the MCA can shape the direction of these students’ lives. She said the academy focuses on “three E’s” for students after they graduate: Employment, Enlistment, or Education. These efforts are all about guiding the students to decide what they will do after their high school years.
“Are they going to go into the military, or are they going to go into college? What are you going to do? What’s your plans?” Gipson said. “Then, we make sure that those things happen.”
“We actually follow them for two years after graduation to make sure that there is anything we can do?” Gipson added. “Can we get them that job application? Can we get them in touch with a recruiter? Can we help with the college applications or FASFA, or whatever it may be, to push them to where they just don’t go home and sit down. We’re pushing him to go to the next step.”
2021 Mountaineer Challenge Academy alum William Farkas went on to complete his West Point education. Farkas graduated from MCA when he was 16 years old.
“Before coming here, I was a fairly driven person,” Farkas said. “I knew that I wanted to do well in life in some capacity. I knew that I wanted to join the military and go to college, but I didn’t really know how I was going to do that.”
Farkas said he experienced academic struggles during COVID with online school and “being all cooped up.”
“I wanted to go out and actually do something different, and so I came to the Mountaineer Challenge Academy,” Farkas said. “They provided me with purpose, direction, motivation, and that was able to revitalize this idea I once had years before that West Point seemed like a decent path for me.”
He enlisted the November after his MCA graduation in the West Virginia Army National Guard as a combat engineer.
However, before he shipped out, Farkas learned he was accepted into West Point. He entered the Sapper Leader Course and underwent basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Farkas said about two weeks after he finished Sapper School, he reported to West Point.
“(It’s) been four years at West Point, and here I am today, a month later after graduating,” Farkas said.
Farkas expressed optimism for the future of West Virginia, as well as the country, with the 71 cadets graduating on Friday.
“We have so many high-quality individuals who have graduated here today,” Farkas said. “Though they might have been going through things before they came here or weren’t exactly where they wanted to be. Or even if they were, just doing all right and wanted something different, they decided to take the difficult path towards success, and this is just the first step.”
Both Farkas and Gipson addressed the cadets during the ceremony. Gipson said she wanted to inspire graduates to handle any adversity that comes their way.
“In my speech today, I gave the representation of the eagle just because I could see them when they first got here, they were timid, they were in the nest, they were hiding their faces,” Gipson said. “As the 22 weeks of quasi-military training went, you could see them kind of put (their) shoulders back and rise. At this point, we’re just ready for him to soar.”
Farkas said it was surreal to be back with the MCA.
“I just really enjoyed the opportunity of being able to hand out diplomas and awards to the cadets,” Farkas said. “Being able to congratulate each one of them personally, and talk to each one of them personally, at least a little bit, was very special to me.”