{"id":9642,"date":"2024-06-18T15:54:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T15:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=9642"},"modified":"2024-09-04T13:04:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T13:04:57","slug":"cgyca-hosts-battle-of-the-beltway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2024\/06\/18\/cgyca-hosts-battle-of-the-beltway\/","title":{"rendered":"CGYCA hosts Battle of the Beltway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Article and Photos by Master Sgt. Arthur Wright<\/strong><\/p>\n

LAUREL, Md. \u2014 Cadets embraced the importance of teamwork and competition during the Battle of the Beltway at the Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy in Laurel, Maryland,\u00a0on June 18, 2024. Teams representing the Maryland Freestate ChalleNGe Academy and the CGYCA competed in five activities for a title and bragging rights.
\"Cadets\u201cNobody understands being a National Guard Challenge program cadet better than these cadets,\u201d said Philip Burk, director of Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy. The Battle of the Beltway is about building cohesion between the two programs\u2014our greatest resource is each other. They\u2019re able to see they aren\u2019t transitioning alone, and we\u2019re adding healthy competition to their path of accomplishments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For Leo Brownlee, computer science specialist within the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy, the competition is a homecoming. The U.S. Army Reserve drill sergeant previously was a CGYCA cadre member.

\u201cI sum up the significance of this competition to diversity,\u201d Brownlee said. \u201cIn every situation you\u2019re going to have to work with different people from different walks of life and perspectives. This will apply to them whether they chose to climb the ranks in the military or in civilian life.\u201d\"Cadets

Cadets competed against each other in five categories, including an obstacle course, drill and ceremony, basketball, kickball, and physical fitness. The overarching theme of the competition was that productive citizens will still face challenges and rivalries.

\u201cWe have some cadets who are already committed to enlist into the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, some are heading to college and others are anticipating jobs,\u201d Brownlee said.

For spectator Marcus Hunt, director, D.C. Government Operations-DCNG, the event elevated the significance of mentorship and guidance. Youth Challenge Academies empower cadets to embrace responsibility, while also instilling self-confidence, ambition, and increased opportunities through service to the community and leadership.

\u201cPresence matters to youth,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cTheir future is bright and it\u2019s in their hands. If they maintain the integrity they have, the standards that they\u2019re learning \u2014 everything else is there for the taking.\u201d\"People

Last year, hundreds of young people across the nation ended 2023 by graduating from Youth ChalleNGe Academy programs that provide discipline and education to set at-risk teenagers on a path to success. The mission is to intervene in and reclaim the lives of teens, producing program graduates with the values, life skills, education, and self-discipline necessary to succeed as productive citizens.

\u201cRelationships and partnerships are essential for the growth of our cadets, and it starts right here,\u201d Burke said.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article and Photos by Master Sgt. Arthur Wright LAUREL, Md. \u2014 Cadets embraced the importance of teamwork and competition during the Battle of the Beltway at the Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy in Laurel, Maryland,\u00a0on June 18, 2024. Teams representing the Maryland Freestate ChalleNGe Academy and the CGYCA competed in five activities for a title  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":9643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1005],"class_list":["post-9642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-freestate-challenge-academy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9642"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9756,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9642\/revisions\/9756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}