AP Youth Academy Observes 10th Anniversary

It's cut-and-dry and easy at the Avon Park Youth Academy, if you do what you are supposed to do, according to a 17-year-old from Orlando.

The juvenile detention facility, which provides academic and vocational training, celebrated its 10th-year anniversary Thursday with guests from the juvenile justice system and local law enforcement.

Before, the academy youth offenders were incarcerated with little training. Now they are a part of the workforce at the academy.

Wearing black pants and red T-shirts, the 16- to-19 year-old males at the academy are busy learning plumbing, electrical work, masonry, digital publishing and more.

The boy from Orlando told those touring the academy that he planned to attend community college to earn the 15 college credits he needed, and then join the U.S. Marines.

Pete Zeegers, academy facility administrator, said "this is a state of the art, out-of-the-box Juvenile Justice program; it's about vocational training."

Home Builders Institute Project Coordinator Robert Bucy said, "There are jobs and opportunities for youth coming out of Project CRAFT the program that we operate here.

"Although we've seen a dip in the economy in the home building and residential market right now, there will always be jobs in the residential construction industry."

The Avon Park Youth Academy, which is located at the Avon Park Air Force Range, is operated by Securicor, in conjunction with the Home Builders Institute. The site was previously used for Air Force base housing.

The academy's concept is the first of its kind in the Florida Juvenile Justice system, focusing on preparing youth for livable-wage work through an intensive education-to-work program.

More than 50 percent of the residents complete the requirements for a high school diploma and almost 90 percent of the students enter the work world after leaving the academy.

The moderate-risk facility houses about 165 males. The average length of stay is nine months.

Juvenile Justice Assistant Secretary of Probation and Community Intervention Rex Uberman said Thursday "this is a great facility.

"These young people need a future and the future is employability," he said quoting one of the academy's founders.