Rob:  Well, it’s certainly a great program.  Now, I want to change gears, because of another story that you did.  You know, in talking to educational experts, they will tell you the one thing the U S does better than anyone else in the world is we try to educate everyone, including those children at risk.  Now, I know, you got up early a couple of weeks back to go take a look at a program that’s doing just that.
Alisa:  Yes, I did!  This program starts well before dawn.  It’s in Pryor at the Thunderbird Youth Academy.  Now the National Guard is charged with homeland security.  And as part of that, they are trying to intervene in the lives of at-risk youth, and give them an opportunity to gain control over their lives, before they become a threat to our security.  They use military principles so they can teach self-discipline, improve self-esteem, and attempt to address the needs of the whole person.
Alisa:  Morning starts early at the Thunderbird Youth Academy, beginning with physical training at 5:15 a.m., but these cadets don’t seem to mind.
Kasey Goad:  I’ve lost, I think, close to thirty pounds, so far, and just got me in shape and made me feel a lot better about myself.
Alisa:  Kasey Goad volunteered to be a cadet at the academy, for a second chance at making his life work.
Goad:  I’m here mostly, to change my life, and get ready for the military.
Alisa:  Changes that are being noticed.
Goad:  We get to go home on pass, about every month; and when I go home, everybody says they see a big difference in me.
Alisa:  And that’s the goal at Thunderbird; to change these at-risk cadets for the better.  Michell Graff is the director of the academy, and says these students are savable, no matter their backgrounds.
Michell Graff:  We have what we think is the solid answer to providing that structure and environment to help them do; they all want help.  They want to do it right.  They want to get it right.  They just need a little boost and that boost, we think, is perfect in that we give them a residential setting to step away from their friends and step away from the influences that they’ve been experiencing, put ’em in a uniform where they’re not competing in this day and age with clothing and shoes and coats and jewelry.  And you know, our young people today are just so inundated with societal issues, and we strip that all away and give them a chance to discover who they are and what they can do, and give them some successes to then move forward when they leave us and keep going in that direction.
Alisa:  And it’s about more than just a good education.
Graff:  We have eight core components.  A lot of students you’ll hear say, well I came for my GED, and that’s a good thing.  We want them to come, because we do want them to get their education, but we believe that part of the reason this program is so successful is because there are other components besides the education piece.  There is the physical education.  There is the citizenship and learning what it’s like to be a good citizen and service to the community; service to the community, not because, we need you to pick up trash; but service to the community because it makes you feel good to do something for somebody who says thank you.  Somebody who is less fortunate than you are, and there’s a bunch of people if you look.
Alisa:  At 17, Jasmine Simmons knew she was on the wrong path.  Drugs, alcohol, and headed nowhere.
Jasmine Simmons:  My mom started, like telling me, hey you’re a sophomore and you’re like almost eighteen, and you really need to get your act together.  So she went online and said, “well, there’s this program called Thunderbird Youth Academy; I think you should check it out.”
Alisa:  Jasmine enrolled in the program and today is a peer advisor for other cadets.
Simmons:  I learned that life skills will help me a lot when I get out there in the real world, and I start doing bills, and I start getting my own job, my own place, and paying for stuff, and how to manage my money and stuff like that.
Alisa:  Even relational skills.
Simmons:  Self-respect; respect for others; self-discipline; how to cope with the stuff that’s going to bother you.
Alisa:  So is a quasi-military school really the answer?  Just ask Jasmine.
Simmons:  Yes, ma’am.  I would tell them to come here because it’s an amazing experience.  You get three meals a day.  You get the right amount of sleep.  You get education.  You get physical training.  You get everything.  And it helps you with life skills and what you’re going to need when you grow up and when you get out.
Goad:  Because I’ve learned so much here and so much discipline.  I’ve learned there’s a new life here.  You know, everybody can change.  It doesn’t matter who you are.  If you want to change, you can change.  And this is the best place to send kids.
Alisa:  Jasmine and Kasey both feel very strongly about their experience at Thunderbird Youth Academy.
Rob:  Well it’s certainly an interesting story, and it sounds like a great program.  Now to learn more about the academy, just visit our website at OkHorizon.com where we’ll have a link.