National Career Readiness Certificate Program Gives Alaskan Youth a Fresh Start

An Alaska program is using WorkKeys^® and the National Career Readiness Certificate to give at-risk teens a chance for a better future.

The Alaska Military Youth Academy has incorporated three WorkKeys assessments—Locating Information, Reading for Information, and Applied Mathematics—into its National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program for Alaskans ages 16 to 19 who have dropped out of high school.

John T. “Tom” Hamill, principal and lead instructor for the Alaska Military Youth Academy, holds the Best in Academic Excellence award the academy received in June.

The program’s mission is to intervene in and reclaim the lives of Alaska’s at-risk youth and produce program graduates with the values, skills, education, and self-discipline necessary to succeed as adults.

“We help prepare young people to return to an education, training, or workplace environment,” said John T. “Tom” Hamill, principal and lead instructor.

The academy offers two sessions of the ChalleNGe Program each year. Before each session begins, admission officials invite approximately 200 applicants to participate in a two-week pre-challenge at the Fort Richardson Army Post, where the academy is housed. The academy typically graduates 130 to 150 cadets per session.

The program entails a five-and-a-half-month residential phase based on a quasi-military training model. This is followed by a one-year post-residential phase, during which cadets continue to work with staff and mentors. Though students are called cadets, they are not obligated to join the military upon completion of the program. Participation in the program is voluntary.

An instructor for the ChalleNGe Program leads a class.

Classes cover the program’s eight core components: leadership/followership, responsible citizenship, service to community, life-coping skills, physical fitness, health and hygiene, job skills, and academic excellence.

Hamill added WorkKeys to the curriculum when he joined the academy in 2007. He became familiar with the assessments and the National Career Readiness Certificate while working with a careers program at the Chugach School District in south central Alaska.

Teachers provide traditional classroom instruction leading to a high school diploma or general equivalency degree. They reinforce their lessons with content from the WorkKeys system so students understand how the information applies in job settings.

Cadets participate in a training exercise.

“One of the best things my team and I can do is to help these young people earn a marketable credential before they leave the academy, and the National Career Readiness Certificate provides just that,” he said.

Most of these young people have not met academic success by the time they come to the academy. They have low academic achievement and little self-esteem. They dread the classroom and fear tests. “When they pass their first WorkKeys assessment, their excitement builds,” said Hamill.

The assessments and certificate have proven to be strong motivators for the cadets. At the academy, success is possible for them. In the most recent graduating class of 136 cadets, 132 earned a National Career Readiness Certificate.

Cadets at the Alaska Military Youth Academy take a test.

Graduates receive a portfolio containing the documentation they’ve earned at the academy. “The National Career Readiness Certificate is one of their most important documents. It’s a true, objective measure of their skills critical to on-the-job success. It’s accepted nationwide and shows employers that they are ready to move up to the next level,” said Hamill.