114 cadets graduate from Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program near Bend

A total of 114 cadets graduated Tuesday from the 61st class of the Oregon National Guard's Youth Challenge Program east of Bend.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions in the Ready Safe Schools blueprint, they could not host any visitors other than immediate family (parents).

Here's some details about their accomplishments from David R Sutterfield, regional coordinator with the program.

During the entire class, the cadets stayed on-site, (no breaks) and made enormous progress, academically and physically.

At the start of the class, the average GPA was 1.50. Over the 22-week course, the average GPA jumped to 2.89 GPA, each cadet earned a minimum of eight high school credits, and are now caught up, and back on track, academically.

OYCP awarded over $14,000 thousand through the Central Oregon Youth Investment foundation, to the current and post residential cadets for continuing education.

All cadets earned their food handler’s certification and their CPR/AED/ First aid certification.

The cadets donated a total of 93 units of blood to the American Red Cross, with the potential to save 279 lives.

Cadets participated in virtual orientations for potential applicants, they installed a Frisbee golf course on the 165-acre campus, maintained the expansive obstacle course and conducted ladder fuel reduction on the campus.

Lastly, the total (cadet) weight loss for the company was 1,240 pounds.

"These are just a few of the cadet’s amazing accomplishments," Sutterfield said.