Graduating From More Than High School

At-Risk Students Have Met Challenges Beyond Books

After 15 years of foster homes, group homes, shelters and guardians, 18-year-old Justin McCauley walked across the stage of the Youth for Tomorrow auditorium in Bristow on Thursday and received his high school diploma from Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs.

McCauley's parents weren't there to see it. His mother lives in Norfolk and could not attend the ceremony. With 10 children to care for, she placed McCauley in foster care after his father abandoned the family when McCauley was 3. McCauley hasn't heard from his father since.

"This is the only family setting I've ever had," said the soft-spoken, slender teenager as he sat in the school's empty auditorium after the ceremony. "They've shown me the affection I needed to make the right decisions."

McCauley, who works part time behind the deli counter of the Giant supermarket in Gainesville, earned a 3.6 GPA during his 18 months in the Youth for Tomorrow program. In the fall, he'll start classes at Northern Virginia Community College. He said he wants to study sports marketing eventually at George Washington University.

McCauley was one of 12 students who received diplomas last week at the Christian boarding school, which was founded by Gibbs in 1986 and serves troubled and at-risk youths. The state-accredited school has 75 boys and girls ages 12 to 19 who are typically referred by courts and government social services.

Youth for Tomorrow's bucolic campus sits on 200 acres off Linton Hall Road four miles south of Manassas. It has spacious, gleaming facilities and neatly trimmed grounds. Students receive counseling and religious instruction and live in house-size residence halls with "house parents" who provide full-time care and supervision.

At graduation, Gibbs sat in the third row with a program in one hand and a black, leather-bound Bible in the other. Once all the diplomas were handed out, Youth for Tomorrow Chief Executive Gary L. Jones invited Gibbs to the podium to speak. The audience erupted with whoops and cheers.

"God is the reason this home is here," Gibbs said. "We felt we needed a youth home that taught godly principles."

Gibbs raised his Bible into the air. "We're all players in life," he said. "And in this book is everything you need to know about life. If there's a consistent theme in this book, it's that those who follow godly principles wind up successful, and those who violate his principles wind up sinful and a disaster."

The NASCAR team owner and NFL Hall of Fame coach said he prayed that the students would go on to "lead a moral awakening in America."

Katlyn Schlosser seemed content reaching the milestone of graduation. Schlosser, 18, arrived at Youth for Tomorrow seven months earlier after struggling with substance abuse and self-esteem issues. At first, she was recalcitrant. "I didn't like to follow their rules. I'd sneak out," she said.

By graduation, Schlosser had earned a 4.0 GPA and was headed for Potomac State College in West Virginia, where she plans to study psychology. "I don't want to use [drugs] anymore; it's not even tempting," she said. "This is the beginning of the rest of my life."

"It's been a tremendous journey," said her mother, Dawn Tebbet, who lives in Madison, Va.

Schlosser said she has benefited from a supportive family. But Jones said that has not been the case for many students. He blamed the growing demand for Youth for Tomorrow's services on a larger trend -- "the breakdown of the family structure."

"These are kids that have been abandoned, abused, alienated -- 50 percent are without fathers, and 30 percent without mothers," he said.

"They come here and live in a safe and secure environment, with a house parent who accepts them as their own child," Jones said. The program emphasizes Christian teachings, but the students aren't forced to attend chapel or Bible study, he said.

And while graduates were excited about a new phase of their lives, they know they'll always have ties to Youth for Tomorrow.

"I think it's my time" to move on, said McCauley, who plans to rent a nearby apartment so he can stay close to the school. "I can always come back if I need help."