Five Fayette County teens are among 147 Georgia teens who recently graduated from the Georgia National Guard's Youth Challenge Academy at Fort Gordon on Saturday, March 3.

Jandala T. Timmons, Aaron M. Timmons, and Reginald A. Wilson of Fayetteville, Christopher K. May of Tyrone, and Michael A. Maxwell of Peachtree City were part of graduation ceremonies that occurred at Augusta Bell Auditorium in Augusta.

Georgia's Youth Challenge Academy is a 22-week residential youth program for teens aged 16-18 who have dropped out of school. The military-styled program provides teens with the opportunity to complete basic academic courses leading to a high school diploma or GED. The voluntary program also provides teens valuable life skills training emphasizing academic, physical fitness and personal discipline.

The Georgia National Guard operates two Youth Challenge Academy campuses in Georgia, the original campus at Fort Stewart near Savannah, and a second campus at Fort Gordon near Augusta that opened in 2000. This is the 13th graduating class for the Fort Gordon YCA. To date more than 7,000 formerly “at risk” teens have graduated from the Youth Challenge Academy program at the two Georgia campuses.