Today, Senator Michael Frerichs introduced 12 cadets from Lincoln’s ChalleNGe Academy. The young men and women were previous high school dropouts and juvenile delinquents who, through the intensive program, have found their way back on to the path to higher education and employment opportunities.

The Lincoln ChalleNGe Academy was created through the 1993 Defense Authorization Act for the National Guard Bureau by Congress. The Act provided funding for a pilot youth intervention program. The military style program provides the cadets with a life skills and educational curriculum which increases their chances to find gainful employment or acceptance to higher education facility. Cadets are also expected to complete 40 hours of community service a week.

The first five and half months of the program, cadets live at the facility and participate in a two week pre-challenge course and a 20 week challenge program. To graduate, the cadets must successfully complete each of eight core components of the program and build a "Life Plan" to be followed once the cadets return home. Those components are academic excellence, life coping skills, job skills, health and hygiene, responsible citizenship, service to the community, leadership/ followership, and physical fitness. After completion of the program, the cadets return to their community to utilize the skills gained while at the facility. Cadets are also eligible for stipends and scholarships to continue their education.