BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- The roughest part may be over for the 88 high school
dropouts at the Grizzly Challenge Academy at Camp San Luis Obispo, but
plenty of other obstacles remain.

A third of the way into the 22-week program for youths age 16 to 18, the
cadets have survived the two-week ordeal of boot camp, and have learned how
to march and follow orders.

They are all who remain of the 131 who started the rigorous program nearly
eight weeks ago.

The cadets will be rewarded today for their efforts with a ceremony, where
platoons will be given honorary guidon streamers for their platoon flags by
state Sen. Jack O'Connell, D-San Luis Obispo, and Assemblyman Tom Bordonaro,
R-Paso Robles.

The event also includes marching drills beginning at 11:20 a.m. at the camp.

Now the goal for cadets is to survive the next 14 weeks following a strict
physical and mental routine, learn some basic skills, and pass the exam for
a General Equivalency Diploma (GED).

Jeanne Dukes, who oversees the educational portion of the academy, would
like the cadets to take it one step further.

"Our hope is that many of these students will walk out of here with high
school credit, a GED and a plan in mind for the future," said Dukes, who
directs the Community and Juvenile Court schools for the County Office of
Education.

The voluntary program is a cooperative effort between her office and the
California National Guard, and is chartered by Paso Robles Public Schools.

Cadets rise at 6 a.m. each day, take classes until 3 p.m., and march and
drill in the afternoons. On weekends, they have participated in community
service projects around the county, like cleaning beaches and parks.

The program is the only ChalleNGe Academy in the state and one of only 15
nationwide, according to Maj. Bruce Irwin. He said the cadets have come a
long way since they arrived at the academy in August.

"They're a lot more disciplined," he said. "They're very respectful."

In the first week of camp, seeing cadets doing pushups was a common sight.
Drill instructors use pushups as punishment for failing to properly stand at
attention, talking in the ranks, and other transgressions that might seem
minor outside a military setting.

"All we're trying to do is get them to think before they act," said Sgt. 1st
Class Robert Jackson.

Although cadets dropping and doing 20 is still not exactly a rare scene, the
message is getting across.

Cadet Jesus Guerrero of Oxnard joked that he's getting stronger for the
pushups and marching, but said he's also getting his life in order.

"I've gotten straightened up now," he said.

Other cadets also see themselves changing for the better since they entered
the program.

Donald Beausoleil was one of a handful of cadets interviewed on the second
day of the camp Aug. 24. All but one of them -- who was dropped after
failing a drug test -- are still in the program.

Beausoleil is one of 29 cadets who hail from the county. The Atascadero
resident said the program is hard but that the discipline helps him learn
valuable lessons.

"You actually have to do what they say," he said with a grin.

Most importantly, he said he has learned "that I can do whatever I set my
mind to do."

Anthony Martinez also pointed to the discipline. On the second day of the
academy, the 17-year-old Oxnard youth said he needed a lesson in discipline.
He said Wednesday he's getting that lesson, and has picked up something else
about his attitude on life.

"It's all up to me," he said.

Mary Herlihy, 17, is one of 20 female cadets. The San Luis Obispo teen is
also pregnant, with a delivery date just four weeks after the academy's Jan.
23 graduation. Like other cadets, Herlihy said the discipline is doing her
some good.

"Now that I'm used to this structure, I feel like I can't live without it,"
she said.

Herlihy said the academy has helped her to put things in perspective.

"Before, I thought the choices I made were all right," she said. "I've
learned you can't always do your own thing."

Maj. Irwin said female cadets have fared better than males in that only
three of the original 23 girls have dropped out. Of the total 43 cadets who
didn't make it this far, 11 failed the drug test, 11 were dropped from the
program, and 21 quit, he said .

"Some people just aren't ready to turn their lives around," Irwin said.

Two cadets who say they are ready are Sergio Rayo and Ricardo Orosco, the
company commander and first sergeant respectively. Both said they were
unaware of their leadership potential before coming to the academy, where
teacher Ruth Wilhelm helped them discover it.

"I never saw that back home," said Rayo, 16.

Orosco, 18, is heading for the U.S. Marines next year, and Rayo will sign up
for the Army. Both will be doing so with higher expectations than before.

Such revelations are the whole point of the academy, according to Dukes, who
predicts some brighter futures for those who graduate in three months.

"We're going to have much more functional students and much more functional
citizens as a result of this program," she said.

For further information on the program, which begins another 22-week session
in February, contact Maj. Irwin at 782-6891.

Jeff Ballinger covers K-12 education for the Telegram-Tribune. Story ideas
and news tips can be e-mailed to him at jballinger@telegram-tribune.com, or
delivered by telephone at 781-7908.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst