Madison Reporter

With his grades slipping like never before, David McBride knew he needed to focus.

After finding that too much screen time distracted his learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Madison teen and his mom put their heads together and came up with a plan for him to attend the Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy. The way McBride saw it, increased phone use caused too many distractions, and that contributed to his grades slipping.

At Challenge Academy, the state- and federally funded program uses military tactics to motivate young people struggling to follow a schedule, a recent NBC15.com news report said.

McBride stresses that he was never forced to attend the program at Fort McCoy near Tomah, Wisconsin.

"It has to be the kid's choice, because you want to be able to get used to where you're going to be going for the next five-and-a-half months," he told NBC15. "I felt like it would be a nice place to try something new."

Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy team leader Matt Wood said it's important that people see the academy for what it is.  

"It's not about the military or about being in the military," he told NBC15. "It's about being a successful citizen within your local community. A lot of what we teach here is foundational to that.

"You can leave here and be a chef. You're still going to need discipline. You're still going to need courage. You're still going to need time management skills. You're going to need all of those character development skills that you get here regardless of which direction you go in life."

At Challenge Academy, cadets have to live in barracks under 24/7 supervision, they have to keep their living spaces clean and tight, they're required to participate in physical training, and they are not allowed to use their cellphones.

"You get used to it," McBride told NBC15. "To be honest, I don't really miss my phone."

The cadet knows the rules he must follow now will make it easier to achieve his goals after he graduates from the program in June.

"'Cause if you're feeling down and you feel like you want to leave, you'll always have that one cadet, where the whole platoon they'll fill it in [the blank] and say, 'You should stay because of this.'" McBride said. "And they'll put a reason out and you're like, 'That's my 'I've got to stay.'' And you'll stay."