Lack of applicants forces youth academy near Elko to forgo fall semester

A youth challenge academy near Elko designed to help at-risk teens from across the state has an empty campus and no students this fall.

Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy, which welcomed its first students last year, isn’t running its program because of a lack of applicants.

“We just didn’t have enough students apply to make it worthwhile,” said Karl Klein, lead admissions specialist for the academy.

Also, the school faced staffing issues that wouldn’t have allowed for fulfilling student needs, he said.

Klein said a decision was made at the national and state levels to take a “pause” on holding classes this fall in order to travel to other parts of the state to let people know about the program. The academy hopes to resume its operations in January.

Asked why it’s been hard to recruit students, Klein said via email, “That truly is the question no one has the golden answer for.”

Some people may have “stereotype biases” that can carry over to a school program such as the Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy, he said.

“You wouldn’t think so but they do. Just by seeing a picture of a student in a uniform, or in a mask when we were under COVID protocols, or that we fall under the NV National Guard.”

Some schools, communities, agencies and businesses have been resistant or refused to communicate or engage with the program, he said.

A program of the National Guard and state, the academy is free for students and participation is voluntary. It operates using a military-like structure and students live on campus.

Teenagers must be 16 to 18 years old, be at risk of not graduating from high school on time, and have no felony offenses. Students can be on probation or parole for minor juvenile offenses.

The academy aims to eliminate distractions teenagers face in their normal lives and help them get back on track so they can be successful in future pursuits like finishing high school, going to college, joining the military or finding a job. Without the program, officials say, some students could be at risk of dropping out of high school.

Klein said it’s critical to have partner relationships with school districts. “Students coming to our program for one semester will return to their home school (in) many cases unrecognizable on the positive side due to their hard work and success,” he said via email.

The academy hopes to have 75 students for the semester that begins in January and has 16 accepted so far. And ultimately, officials hope to be at full capacity with 150 students in the future.

The academy’s campus — which used to house the now-shuttered University of Nevada, Reno Fire Science Academy — is in Carlin, about 20 miles from Elko. It’s a more than six-hour drive from Las Vegas.

Students go through a two-week acclimation phase and 20-week residential phase. Then, they participate in a one year post-residential phase where they return home and are paired with a mentor.

“Most rewarding is the contacts we hear about from the students who may have struggled with substance abuse or promiscuity or whatever vice or addiction, that they are just doing good in life and happy,” Klein said via email.

Seeking teachers and students

While in the program, students are enrolled in the Elko County School District, which provides teachers and staff for the academy.

“Our highly qualified teachers are not only prepared to teach the normal curriculum that all students need, but are engaged and trained in the specific dynamics that are unique to Battle Born,” school district spokeswoman Kayla Church said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Students must want to be at the academy, make a change in their life and work hard, Klein said. “Everything here is earned. It’s not a given.”

Nevada is among about 40 Youth ChalleNGe Academy programs nationwide, and receives 25 percent of its funding from the state and 75 percent from the federal government.

The program has operated for two semesters so far in Nevada — fall 2021 and in the spring. In total, 42 students have completed it.

About one-third of students in fall 2021 hailed from the Las Vegas area while the spring semester drew about 60 percent of students from that area.

Gaining skills, confidence and direction

Carlynne Ellamar’s 17-year-old son, Carsen, completed the challenge academy in the spring and was the first student in Nevada to graduate with a high school diploma through the program.

The Las Vegas mother said her family is from Hawaii and knew about the challenge academy in their home state, including people who went through it and are now successful in life.

After school buildings reopened following a year of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ellamar said her son had a hard time getting re-acclimated at Sierra Vista High School.

She said her son did ROTC in Hawaii, so he was interested in the military structure at the challenge academy.

“It’s all by choice, really,” Ellamar said about her son’s participation. “No one was forcing him, and he knew that.”

She said the program helped him gain leadership skills and taught him to be open-minded, confident, more responsible and well-spoken.

Ellamar said her son also discovered he wants to become a chef. He’s working at Wendy’s, and is waiting until he turns 18 so he can attend the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas beginning early next year.

‘A chance to see her own potential’

When Las Vegas mother Nichol Zamora heard about the challenge academy, her initial thought was it seemed a little intense.

But the more she thought about it, she realized the academy might be what her daughter, 17-year-old Esmeralda Bueno, needed. Her daughter completed the program in the spring.

It was hard as a parent to adapt, Zamora said, noting she hadn’t been away from her daughter for more than a weekend and cried every day. But, she said, she believes that it was one of those times when “if you love someone, you have to let them go.”

Without distractions such as cellphones, social media or television, Zamora said, her daughter was able to clear her mind and get to know herself. “It kind of gave her a chance to see her own potential.”

“The education out there is phenomenal,” Zamora said, noting her daughter worked one-on-one with teachers.

Now, her daughter is a senior at Clark High School. She came to the challenge academy behind on credits, but now is ahead.

‘Highly structured’ program

Klein described the challenge academy program as “highly structured” and “military-like.” Students wake up at 4:30 a.m. six days a week and do physical training.

They have seven class periods of high school classes — a combination of in-person instruction and online credit recovery — on weekdays.

On Saturdays, students take part in community service with nonprofit organizations and agencies such as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service.

Families have two opportunities to see their students during the 5.5-month semester — a family day on campus halfway through the program and a long weekend toward the end when students go home.

The challenge academy keeps track of program graduates for one year after they leave.

Whatever their goals are, Klein said, “we want to make sure they’re not reverting back to their old ways.”

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.