SEQUIM — At the end of his academic rope, one lackluster Sequim student opted for the last resort: military school.
That decision was ultimately the best one for Sequim High School student William Hays, 18, who was failing his classes.
“I wasn’t doing too good at school,” he said. “I wasn’t doing my work. I would just show up.”
Fearing becoming a “super senior” — a student attending high school for a fifth year — Hays weighed his options.
He heard about Washington Youth Academy, located on the Army National Guard installation in Bremerton.
The idea of attending the academy piqued his interest, but he wasn’t ready to jump in.
“At first, I wasn’t really down,” he said. “It sounded like too much work.”
And while no one could force Hays to participate in the program, prompting from his father, Sequim City Councilman Ken Hays, and his mother, Joanna Hays, convinced him to give it a shot.
Hays is an only child.
“Only the youth can make this decision,” Ken Hays said.
“No adult can make them stay, either. That’s a big part of what is so remarkable about the program and its success.”
But before he could attend, Hays had to be find a mentor — unrelated to him and approved by the academy — who agreed to take Hays under his or her wing for the next 18 months.
Enter Sequim resident and businessman Eric Godfrey, 52.
Godfrey — who owns Three Crowns handyman service and served in the Army during the mid-1980s — had never met the younger Hays but was willing to step in after being contacted by Sequim Mayor Candace Pratt.
“I like being of service and helping other people, and that was just kind of right up my alley,” Godfrey said.
“I knew if it was connected to the military, it was probably a pretty good program.”
With Godfrey signed on for the next 18 months, Hays began a six-month stint at the academy following the end of his junior year in July 2014.
And he wasn’t alone.
Five other students from the Sequim area — Korina-Lynn Adams, Molly Garcia, Alissa Johnson, Tristin McComas and Yulisa Preciado Olivares — also signed up for that cycle.
There have been no cadets from elsewhere in either Clallam or Jefferson counties over the past year.
The Washington Youth Academy, part of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, is operated through a cooperative agreement between the National Guard Bureau and Washington state.
It is funded by federal and state money, making tuition free to eligible youths.
The program was founded in 1993 as a federal-state partnership to help troubled youths improve their education, life skills and employment potential.
The residential program incorporates a highly structured quasi-military format emphasizing self-discipline and personal responsibility.
Students, who are referred to as cadets while at the academy, must meet military grooming standards, wear military-type uniforms and observe standard military customs and courtesies.
The military customs, especially the no-nonsense commands — including the classic “Are you eyeballing me?!” shouted by drill instructors — came as something of a shock to Hays.
“It is hard to just stand there” and not look them in the eye, he said.
The toughest instructor, according to Hays, was Master Sgt. Andrews.
“But just the fact that he was hard on us” encouraged the cadets to do better, Hays said.
“At first I hated it, but after awhile, I got used to it. It wasn’t that bad.”
Each class involves a three-phase program that begins with a two-week “acclimation phase” where the goal is to identify those students that have the desire and discipline to complete the program.
“First we had to pass the application phase . . . to see if you can even stay there,” Hays said.
The initial phase includes intense physical training.
“The first day was horrible,” Hays said. “I puked, like, 10 times.”
But Hays stuck through it and learned “perseverance,” he said.
When Hays and the other cadets had successfully completed the acclimation phase, they entered a 20-week “challenge phase” where the emphasis is on curriculum.
“Those who managed to make it through are the ones who got the uniforms,” Hays said. “And they made you your own name tag, which you got to keep at the end.”
There wasn’t much free time because the students were either training or studying, Hays said.
And even on the weekends, the cadets couldn’t slack off because they were out in the surrounding communities performing public services.
“When we went out and did stuff, it was pretty cool,” he said. “At one point, we went and did a charity thing where we were cleaning up an old Boys & Girls Club in Bremerton.”
According to the academy, this year’s cadets donated more than 11,000 hours of service to the community, worth an estimated value of $273,000.
By the end of the course, Hays was in great physical shape, he said.
And it wasn’t just Hays’ body that had improved, but his psychological well-being as well.
“It is weird because [your mind] unfogs when you have been there for a while — the way you think about stuff,” he said.
“Mentally, there was a lot of dealing with the feelings I had before I had left — how I had treated my parents and that kind of stuff. It was hard from that emotional sense.”
Ken Hays has borne witness to positive changes in his son as a result of his time at the academy.
“I see a determination to find his way,” he said. “Overall, he is more respectful and willing to engage in things.
“He has [even] gone out and gotten his first job.”
Because of the academy, William Hays said he was able to complete the majority of the credits he needed to complete high school, earning eight altogether.
With that boost, he was able to don his mortarboard and graduation robes and join his fellow students at the June 12 graduation ceremony to get his diploma.
“I am stoked about that,” he said, noting that his next goal is to travel to Colorado and work for a ski resort.
And while his time at the academy helped Hays succeed, he said it isn’t for everybody.
“It is a good experience. It will help you out a lot, but it is not fun,” he said.
“There are fun times when you are with the kids there, but overall, it is not meant to be a fun time.
“There is a time and a place. It is work before play.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
