Regardless of what put them there, Friday was a day to celebrate for the juveniles locked up behind the razor wire-topped fences of the Augusta Youth Development Campus.

John Pearson, 20, said he would be dead if he hadn't been arrested and sentenced to the YDC. He and his classmates celebrated their graduation Friday.

The YDC, considered the state's 181st school system, held its annual commencement, recognizing Mr. Pearson and Johnny Lee Porter III for earning their GEDs in addition to Paul Parsons for earning his high school diploma with college prep seal.

"If it wasn't for being locked up, I wouldn't have gotten an education," Johnny, 17, said. "Without an education, I have nothing."

But everything happens for a reason, he said, recalling his mother's words.

"I hope I can be an inspiration to others who are traveling down a similar path as me," the Waycross, Ga., teen said.

Without the YDC, he would be on the streets, Johnny said, but now he plans to enroll in welding courses at a technical college.

Mr. Pearson shared his view.

"I got into a lot of gang stuff," the Nashville, Ga., native said, remembering his arrest and how it changed his life. "Looking back on it, I'm glad I did (get arrested)."

He has been at the YDC since 2004, but was released Friday and already had a job lined up.

Mr. Parsons, 18, also has plans for his release. He plans to study computer forensics at Southern Wesleyan University.

Such turnarounds are possible for teens confined in juveniles facilities, Edwin Risler said during his commencement address. Dr. Risler is vice chairman of the Georgia Board of Juvenile Justice and an associate professor of social work at the University of Georgia, but at 15 he was incarcerated in a facility similar to the Augusta YDC.

The high school dropout got his life back on track by earning a GED and eventually obtaining his doctorate.

YDC residents take the same curriculum and tests as other students in Georgia, and the same agency accredits the Department of Juvenile Justice as the other school systems in the state.

The YDC graduation holds a particular significance because of what the students have overcome, Department of Juvenile Justice Associate Superintendent Jack Catrett said.

"In my years in regular education, handing kids a diploma is a high point," Dr. Catrett said. "To me, I'd rather give 10 of these than 3,000 at a regular school."

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