National Guard program helps Virginia students shape up

By JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Published: July 4, 2008

PETERSBURG—Jacqueline Clayton said her three teenage sons have gone through a transformation in the past six months.

Last year, twins Marcel and Marcellus, 18, and Dominique, 17, were skipping school, roaming the streets and partying—and two of them got kicked off their school football team.

Today, Marcel has earned his General Educational Development certificate and has a job. Marcellus is one subject away from passing his GED and is looking for a job. Both are planning to go to John Tyler Community College to pursue business and criminal-justice degrees. Dominique is returning to high school with renewed energy to graduate.

The change for the three came through Commonwealth ChalleNGe, the Virginia component of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program for at-risk teenagers.

The 22-week quasi-military program focuses on academics, life-coping and work skills, citizenship, health education, physical fitness and community service. It’s designed for high school dropouts and students at risk of dropping out.

The three Clayton brothers graduated June 21. Of 109 teenagers who graduated from the program in June, 21 were from the Richmond area.

Jacqueline Clayton and her husband, Joseph, have seven children. Four of them have graduated from Petersburg schools. She works two jobs, and her husband works, too, she said.

“I really couldn’t keep eyes on them like I used to,” she said of Marcel, Marcellus and Dominique.

The three did not have enough credits to graduate from high school on time, so they were transferred to Blandford Academy in the fall, an alternative and GED center for over-age and troubled students.

Marcellus said he had gotten bored in school since being kicked off the football team. Marcel said he didn’t like to comply with the school’s dress code.

Dominique said: “I felt like if I ain’t got football, I ain’t going to school.”

Clayton found out about the ChalleNGe program through a friend and told her boys to give it a try.

The brothers’ first reaction was no way, but they decided to give in.

“I prayed a lot, cried a lot,” Clayton said. “I said, ‘They’re going to make it through this program’.”

The teens went to Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County for two weeks of basic training.

“The first two weeks seemed like five months,” Marcellus said.

Dominique said he wanted to quit right away because he felt homesick. But the letters that his mother and other relatives wrote kept him and his brothers from giving up.

Then the brothers were transferred to Camp Pendleton in Virginia Beach to focus on academics. This was the toughest part for them.

“Before the ChalleNGe program, you couldn’t have paid me to pick up a book and study,” Marcellus said.

But during the program, it meant picking up a book to study every day or do physical training for two hours, he said. “So I picked up that book.”

The brothers began getting into the study habits and doing the work.

“I made a promise to myself and to my family that I was going to get my GED, graduate this program and move forward,” Marcel said.

The program brought the three brothers closer. They encouraged each other to get through it.

Five months later, they graduated.

“When I went down there . . . and everybody was in their uniform, sitting on that stage and graduating, I could not believe it,” their mother said. “You could see the change in these young people. I mean they walked straighter, you know, when they walked across the stage to get their diploma. Man, they really looked excellent.”

Alvin Clayton, an uncle and mentor to the boys, said he’s seen a change.

“They’re more disciplined, a lot more responsible,” he said.

Before going into the program, they had not been involved with alcohol, drugs or crimes. They had just lost focus with school, he said. “I hope that they stay focused, that they continue their education or seek decent employment.”

Marcel got a job at a factory two days after graduating. Marcellus said that if college doesn’t work, he’ll go into the military.

Dominique, who is getting a summer job, is going to move to Surry County with a relative to attend high school in the fall. He’s also going to try to play football there.

“My main focus now is to get my high school diploma,” he said. “And I want it bad.”
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .