Alaska Military Youth Academy Expands Vocational TrainingFederal Grant Enables More Cadets to Prepare for Future CareersDecember 01, 2017
The Alaska Military Youth Academy, is an accredited and award-winning secondary education institution within DMVA. It is an intervention program for youth between the ages of 16 and 18 who are at risk of not completing their education. “AMYA’s career training curriculum already includes intensive pre-apprenticeship instruction in basic construction skills and culinary arts, and we’re thrilled this one-time increase in grant funding means twice as many cadets will receive that training,” AMYA Executive Director Bob Roses said. “Real-life introductions to these major career fields lead many of our cadets into rewarding jobs that contribute to the social health and economic well-being of communities across the state.” The one-time grant increase, administered through the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the federal Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, Reserve Integration, will fund 10 weeks of instruction in basic construction skills as part of cadets’ daily class curriculum offerings. AMYA delivers this training through a local agreement with the Alaska Works Partnership, Inc., which provides experienced instructors. Funding for the expansion of the vocational training and pre-apprenticeship program will be available for the present AMYA class, scheduled to graduate in February of 2018, and two additional classes that begin in March 2018 and September 2018. During the last four weeks of AMYA’s 22-week residential program, 40 cadets will have the opportunity to receive 40 hours of intensive training with the union apprenticeship instructors in each of the construction trades - carpentry, electrical, labor, iron work, and welding. Twelve additional cadets will receive 160 hours of culinary arts training. The Alaska Military Youth Academy also provides Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training to 75 cadets in cooperation with Alaska Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs’ (DMVA) Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. CERT training educates cadets about disaster preparedness and trains them in basic emergency response skills including fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. In spring 2018, when two AMYA staffers become certified CERT instructors, 100% of cadets will receive this important training. “Our CERT-trained cadets bring valuable skills back to their home communities,” Roses said. “Towns and villages across Alaska are safer places and better able to address significant emergencies and disaster events because AMYA cadets receive exceptional training and can serve their communities in times of need. Trained citizens prepared to assist are an important public asset.” The Alaska Military Youth Academ is jointly funded through a Cooperative Agreement between the National Guard Bureau and the State of Alaska. Over the past 24 years, the program has graduated more than 5200 cadets with some of those from Ketchikan. Over this time, the Alaska Military Youth Academy awarded 3139 GEDs and, since 2003 when the program became eligible, has issued 316 high school diplomas.
Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews
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