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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 23, 2006 Alex Soeffker, 17, left, and Adam Dezwart, 18, right, both of Medford, wait for permission to leave the mess hall at the Oregon National Guard�s Youth Challenge Program in Bend. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven SECOND CHANCE National Guard-run school helps teens turn their lives around; critic calls it recruiting By PARIS ACHEN Mail Tribune While a student at South Medford High School, Adam Dezwart’s attitude toward school followed the old adage, "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." If he went to school, it was to meet friends to skip class or to compete in a wrestling match. His life is starkly different now. Enrolled at the Oregon Youth Challenge Program in Bend, Dezwart, 18, has only a few minutes to shower, walks in military formation everywhere, may not chat with his peers during meals and does daily physical training during which a "cadre" with some sort of military background barks orders. Dezwart chose to enroll in the military-style school offered free by the Oregon National Guard after realizing he had lost so many credits from skipping classes that he couldn’t graduate on time. Advertisement "I didn’t want to work at a gas station for the rest of my life," Dezwart said. Program officials promise pupils can earn at least eight high school credits during the five-month residential portion of the program and learn skills to organize and plan their lives. In exchange, students give up the comforts of civilian life, obey orders and live in an isolated compound, a former secret military satellite tracking station still surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. The Youth Challenge Program is the only alternative high school that serves the entire state. Its students, numbering about 130 in Oregon, range from drug addicts to youth with learning disabilities to those who have chronically missed classes at a traditional high school for other reasons. The program, one of 31 in the nation and the only one in Oregon, is the equivalent of military basic training with an academic component. "The primary reason the program works is you take the person out of the traditional school environment and you eliminate all distractions," said program director Richard DeMars. There are no televisions or radios, no phone calls and virtually no free time. "We replace the distractions with structure, discipline, study skills, diet and good physical conditioning," DeMars said. "After about six weeks, you have only one life to look at, and that’s their own." Participants undergo an academic evaluation and receive workbook assignments to earn high school credit. "The teachers are willing to stay there as long as you need," Dezwart said. "In a public school, the teacher doesn’t always have time to spend with you." On average, cadets have a 1.1 grade point average (out of a possible 4), seventh-grade math skills and eighth-grade reading skills when they enter the program. Most are able to advance their skills by a grade and a half during the five- month residential program, officials said. While catching up on their school work and learning basic skills, such as hygiene, posture and manners, the students also build a resume and a life plan, outlining their goals for the program and their future. Students are responsible for preparing and serving meals and cleaning and maintaining the facility, which program officials said fosters a sense of ownership. In the following year of the program, students undergo intense mentoring from a person approved by program officials while either going to school, working at a job or serving in the military. On average, 70 percent of participants are still in a "placement" 17 months after graduation, program officials said. Participants must be 16 to 18 years old and must drop out of their public high school at least 30 days before entering the program. Though every dropout costs public schools about $5,000 per year in state funding, some school officials believe the program is the only option for some students to graduate from high school. Doug Jantzi, secondary education director at the Medford School District and a mentor for the program, said the option provides structure and security for students who may not have had it at home and were not able to learn discipline in public schools. "I think it’s a great program," Jantzi said. "I actually wish there were varying degrees of that program. I would say it’s the extreme after juvenile detention." Jantzi said there is a gap in the chain of educational services available to struggling students. Students go from public schools to alternative schools, such as CrossRoads, to the Youth Challenge Program. Jackson County does not have a day camp program that might be more suitable for students than a military environment, he said. The Medford district has been ramping up efforts to reduce truancy, including makeup-work detention sessions for unexcused absences, calls home and the addition of attendance officers at both North and South Medford high schools. District officials say they hope the measures will reduce the need for alternative programs. The next step may be a partnership with law enforcement to start citing the parents of chronically absent pupils. The Southern Oregon Education Service District is in negotiations with the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office and the Medford Police Department to start the citations. "Parents need to be held accountable," Jantzi said. For some students, the Youth Challenge Program is an alternative to a public school that is not meeting their learning needs. About 35 percent of participants have learning disabilities. That was the case for 19-year-old Dane Pope, who now installs industrial sprinkler systems for a living. Pope participated in the program in 2004 after having difficulty passing classes at Rogue River High School because of the effects of attention deficit disorder. At the Youth Challenge Program, Pope was able to earn about 12 credits in five months. "I didn’t know if I could complete the program when I first got there," Pope said. "They made you run every day. They yelled at you. I didn’t like it, but I’m glad I went to it because I learned I could do things I didn’t think I could do." With time, participants often find a certain comfort in the discipline at the school, he said. But in some cases, the transition back to civilian life can be difficult when the decisions fall back to the student, said Dave Pope, Dane Pope’s father and a mentor in the program. Those who fall back into their old ways often do so because they don’t get enough support from their mentor or family members, he said. He said under the circumstances, the program was probably the only option for his son to graduate. "The public schools pigeonhole kids with learning disabilities in special classes," Dave Pope said. "Their peers look at them as if they’re idiots or troublemakers. That’s how they perceive themselves, as someone who can’t succeed. He thought he was a loser, and the program showed him he wasn’t. "I know he has a much brighter future because of the program." Still, the program has its detractors. Stuart O’Neill, an Ashland community activist who has worked to show students alternatives to joining the military after high school, said "passing the responsibility to the military to pick up the (educational) slack does not bode well for our society." O’Neill said the program targets youth from low-income and minority communities who may have fewer options. "With the military continuing to struggle filling the ranks, they are turning to new and innovative ways to recruit young people into the service," O’Neill said. "Programs like the Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program are not formal recruiting efforts, but they do further the reach of the military and militarism into young people’s lives, influencing their future decisions in life." Program officials emphasize that the program is voluntary, and no one is pressured to join the military. "We have recruiters like other schools, but this is not a recruiting ground," DeMars said. Alternatives to the military are highlighted, including student loans, grants and scholarships to go to college, officials say. About 25 percent of participants join the military after graduation. Both Dezwart and Alex Soeffker, 17, a former North Medford High School student who joined the program to catch up on credits lost from truancy, plan to join the military after high school graduation. For Soeffker, participation in the program had no influence on his decision to join the Navy. He said he has always had an attraction to the military and is looking forward to the job security it will offer him in the future. But Dezwart never considered the military as an option until he joined the program. Now, he said he plans to join the National Guard, where he said he expects to serve only a few weeks a year. He said the possibility of deployment to Iraq is a concern but believes the benefits of free college tuition and service pay outweigh the risks. The next challenge for Dezwart and Soeffker is returning to ordinary life in Medford. "I’m kind of afraid to see my friends in the same hole as I was in before," Dezwart said. "I didn’t know when to stop skipping classes and partying, and I ended up here." For details on the Oregon Youth Challenge Program, visit www.oycp.com . Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4459 or e-mail SECOND CHANCE ">[email protected] . 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