This is a press release from the office of United States Senator Jay Rockefeller.

Washington, D.C. – Senator Jay Rockefeller joined with representatives of the National Guard, members of Congress, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., singer Trisha Yearwood, Miss America Kristen Hagland and a crowd of more than 1,000 people Tuesday evening to honor Major General Allen Tackett, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard, for his work with at-risk youths through the National Youth ChalleNGe program.

“General Tackett has been a tenacious supporter of this program, and he has fought especially hard to make sure that West Virginia has the best program,” Rockefeller said. “It’s because of his determination that thousands of young West Virginians now have the experience, the drive and the confidence they need to go further in life than they’d ever imagined.”

At this event in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Guard Youth Leadership Foundation, General Tackett was honored as a “ChalleNGe Champion” for his longstanding support of the Youth ChalleNGe program. He was instrumental in establishing this national program in the early 1990s, when it first began in both West Virginia and Oklahoma. Today, the program is active in 28 states nationwide.

Rockefeller met earlier this week with four cadets from the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy, West Virginia’s version of the program, in his Washington office.

“Each time I speak with cadets from the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy, I’m amazed at how this program gives these young people the opportunity to literally turn their lives around,” Rockefeller said. “It gives them the chance to earn a high school diploma, job training and real-life work experience. And it helps them believe in themselves in order to make a difference not only for themselves, but also for their communities, their state, and their country.”