Commonwealth ChalleNGe kicks off 4-day athletic, academic invitational - June 2, 2016

Brig. Gen. Paul F. Griffin, Virginia National Guard Director of the Joint Staff, and Mark Chicoine, director of the Virginia Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy, address ChalleNGe cadets from three states during the opening ceremony of a four-day academic and athletic competition June 2, 2016, at Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Virginia Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy hosted cadets from the New Jersey Youth ChalleNGe Academy and the Tarheel ChalleNGe Academy in North Carolina from June 2-5, 2016. The cadets competed in basketball, softball, soccer, chess, triathlon, a drill competition and an academic bowl. Commonwealth ChalleNGe is the Virginia component of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, which focuses on preparing teenagers who have dropped out of high school, or are on the verge of dropping out of high school, with the skills, discipline and academics to become a productive citizen.