Commonwealth ChalleNGe graduates 27 cadets in Va. Beach ceremony - Aug. 9, 2014

Twenty-seven cadets from the Virginia Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy graduate during a commencement ceremony for Class 41 Aug. 9, 2014, at Corporate Landing Middle School in Virginia Beach. Staff Sgt. Jay Campbell of the United States Marine Corps, a member of Commonwealth ChalleNGe Class 16, was the guest speaker. Brig. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia, Brig. Gen. Wayne A. Wright, the Chief of the Joint Staff, and Col. Paul Griffin, the Director of the Joint Staff, represented the Virginia National Guard and the Clifton Forge-based 29th Division Band performed ceremonial music for the event. Commonwealth ChalleNGe is the Virginia component of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, which focuses on preparing teenagers that have dropped out of high school, or are on the verge of dropping out of high school, with skills, discipline and academics to become a productive citizen. The graduates completed the 20-week, residential period of academics, physical fitness, counseling, life skills, and team building and now move on to a 12-month, post-residential phase.