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On January 16, 2007, the Lincoln Challenge Academy in downstate Rantoul, Illinois will have a new cadet hailing from North Lawndale and Collins High School. Donnell Coakley, 16, a junior at Collins, made a very big decision this semester.

He heard about the Lincoln Challenge Academy from a friend’s mother and a sudden urgency took hold of him. “I just felt this was it. I should take advantage of this program. I want to change my life around because the streets are creeping into my life”, Donnell explained. The Lincoln Challenge Academy is currently on it’s 27th class and starting it’s 13th year of operation.

The program states that it has the potential of providing thousands of “at risk” young men and women with a new start. The Lincoln Challenge is an “alternative to traditional educational methods incorporating discipline in an intensive, structured environment”, according to the website.

The Academy is run by active members of the Illilnois National Guard and retired military personnel. If a cadet completes the 22 weeks and GED requirements, he/she may qualify for a scholarship to a community college in the State of Illinois.

This scholarship grant was established by the Governor and the General Assembly. Donnell was born August 6,1990 at Cook County Hospital and has lived in North Lawndale his entire life attending Our Lady of the Westside Catholic School, Johnson Elementary, and Collins High School.

Donnell was raised by his grandmother, Anna Morrisson, who died in May of 2004. Donnell works at St. Agatha’s SAFE program and participates in drum line at Collins. “I want to discipline myself and become a man”, Donnell stated. Donnell is apprehensive about entering Lincoln Challenge Academy and expressed that he will definitely be “homesick” for his friends and family including aunts and uncles along with his 6 brothers and 5 sisters in various parts of the city, suburbs, and Kankakee, Illinois.

I first met Donnell almost 3 years ago at St. Agatha where 1 was fortunate to become his tutor and mentor through the SAFE program. I have seen Donnell grow up very fast in just a few years. He has struggled and persevered without much support through dramatic changes and through loss.

I admired him immediately after our first tutoring session. I am always amazed at his quiet, humble way as well as his subtle intelligence. Ultimately, it is Donnell who has taught me something; to be courageous in the face of adversity, to seize opportunity, and to have hope and trust in God. I am one of his biggest fans.