Montana Youth Challenge Academy Tours Region, Leadership Team Meets With Schools
A group of leaders and recruiters for Montana Youth Challenge Academy visited the region in mid-September. The team set out from Dillon and traveled as far as Culbertson, where they spoke with the Northern Plains Independent.
Lead admissions counselor Mark McGinley, deputy director Laura Thomas, post-residential coordinator Michelle Nelon and eastern Montana coordinator Kevin Roche spoke with tribal leaders, school boards, staff and administrators in Frazer, Wolf Point, Scobey, Poplar and Brockton, thanking area leaders for 21 years of collaborative work. MYCA was formed in 1999.
MYCA is a preventive program designed to improve life outcomes for its participants. Applicants must be voluntary, meet the necessary age requirements and either dropped out of school or not satisfactorily progressing, unemployed or under employed, drug-free, and crime-free. It is the only program of its kind to provide graduates with a personal mentor for one year to help the transition into adulthood.
Established by the Montana National Guard, MYCA is funded on a federal and state level. Tuition is free to participants. Part of the team’s purpose on the regional tour is to shore up support for another round of funding.
According to the group’s website, Challenge empowers participants to embrace responsibility, achievement and positive behavior. It instills self-confidence, fosters ambition and increases opportunities through job skills training, service to the community and leadership. A multi-year study by RAND Corporation, on behalf of the Department of Defense, found that the program participants achieve impressive results in educational attainment and employment. According to Thomas, RAND’s cost-benefit analysis found that every government dollar invested in Youth Challenge programs yields $2.66 in benefits, a return on investment of 166 percent.
Upcoming MYCA classes start January 19. To speak with a regional recruiter, contact Roche at 406-925-1562 or McGinley at 406-865-0119. For more information, visit mycacademy. org.
