The changes are apparent as soon as Rahkeam Jacobs walks into a room, standing tall with his chest pushed out.

"He's made a lot of changes. He has always been mature for his age," Twana Jacobs said, but now she sees something new -- "the determination I see in his eyes when I look at him. ... He just seems so much older."

For the past month, Rahkeam, known as "Rocky" by friends, has lived a regimented life away from family and friends, undergoing strenuous physical activity rivaling basic training in the military, while attending class, maturing as a leader and giving back to the community.

He is one of a dozen Richmond County high school juniors who in March began in a pilot program that is part of Youth Challenge Academy at Fort Gordon. The 22-week program is a residential, quasi-military academy designed for students who fell behind in school and want to graduate this summer with their classmates.

Unlike the traditional Youth Challenge Academy program, which focuses on the general equivalency diploma, or GED, the pilot will enable students to graduate with a high school diploma.

Rahkeam repeated a year in school after a house fire forced his family to move to Atlanta for a short time, and now he could catch up.

"Being here builds a lot of character," he said shortly after performing community service. "They say when you come out you'll be a man, and that's right."

It's that growth that keeps the phones ringing.

"We get calls every day," said Maj. Jefferey Helms, commandant. "Most of the parents who call here are looking for someone to save their children."

Teens arrive suspicious on day one but are reluctant to leave when it is over, he said.

"We role model for them and demonstrate what they should and shouldn't be doing," Maj. Helms said.

That includes the predawn physical training in which staff members lead by example.

"They really start understanding what society expects of them," he said.

Youth Challenge Academy requires cadets to set short- and long-term goals, and staff members follow up monthly for a year after cadets leave to ensure that they stay on the right path.

Rahkeam has been busy in the program, getting involved with the basketball team, softball team, drill team, gospel choir and the recon team, a physically grueling activity in which cadets perform hundreds of pushups in a half-hour and complete the program with a 14-mile run.

"When you better yourself, you feel like you're on top of the world," he said.

This weekend was Rahkeam's first trip home since the program began, making it a wonderful Mother's Day, Ms. Jacobs said.

"He always said as a little boy: 'Momma, I'm going to see the world. I'm going to make you proud,' " she said.

When she visited him on base, Rahkeam told her that he watched her struggle through life and now he wants to take care of her, she said.

"Proud isn't even the word," Ms. Jacobs said.

Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.