Breaking at-risk students down - to build them back up

The first day at Sunburst Youth Challenge Academy was low-key.

That didn't last.

At 4:30 a.m. the next morning, a team of screaming sergeants rushed into the barracks.

That was the start of a 5 1/2-months-long program, run jointly by the California National Guard and the Orange County Department of Education, for at-risk high school students who need to be broken down before they can be built back up, The Valley Chronicle reports.

Up to 170 students attend the federal- and state-funded program, in which students are on the drill field by 5 a.m., attend school 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and are in bed each night by 9 p.m. Hundreds more apply and are turned away.

What can other groups that work with at-risk students learn from tough-love endeavors like Sunburst? Comment here or email us at editor@nodropouts.org