Ricky Sabino-Sabagala was like thousands of other kids in Hawaii headed down the wrong path.

Living on Maui, he said, he cut school, was drinking and failed his freshman year.

He moved to Oahu and dropped out of Kapolei High School his junior year.

He treated his mother with disrespect as she struggled to raise his brothers and sisters, he said.

But he says his life changed when he found the Hawaii National Guard’s Youth Challenge Academy in Kalaeloa.

He had to get up at 5 a.m. and do an hour of exercise before class. It was like military basic training.

"To me it wasn’t bad — you had to put your mind to it," he says now at age 19 after graduating two years ago from the program. "It taught me to be more disciplined and motivated."

Sabino-Sabagala is the kind of teen the National Guard had in mind yesterday as it dedicated a second Youth Challenge Academy — this one on the Big Island.

Starting in January, the former Kulani Correctional Facility, about 22 miles from Hilo Airport, will be home to two 5 1/2 -month residential Youth Challenge programs annually.

The effort at Kalaeloa has intervened in at-risk teens’ lives "in a way I don’t think another program could have," Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday at a dedication of the Kulani facility.

"It’s truly not about a physical facility, although this is a great one," Lingle said. "It’s about saving lives, turning lives around (and) rescuing young people."

Lingle noted that about 6,000 Hawaii students drop out of school each year.

"Where will they go? What will they do? How will they survive in a society that truly is skills-based today?" Lingle said.

"Well, here is an opportunity," she said, referring to Youth Challenge.

The state closed the 123-inmate prison a year ago, citing a budget shortfall and $6 million annual cost to run it.

The National Guard stepped in with $2.8 million from the federal government and $400,000 from the state annually to run the Kulani program for 16- to 19-year-olds. A similar amount is spent on the Kalaeloa program.

Youth Challenge students take GED exams and receive a high school diploma at the completion of the program.

About 400 youths apply for each of the 5 1/2 -month quasi-military programs held twice a year at Kalaeloa, but the academy has space for only about 125 students, officials said.

Students at Kulani will live in seven stone-sided, steel-roofed dorm buildings encircling a central courtyard. A now-unused guard tower watches over the camp. Fences and gates and bars on windows have been removed.

Youth Challenge Academy Director Rick Campbell said the students are occupied from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. six days a week.

"They have to give up (personal) phones, computers and televisions," Campbell said. But he added that he thinks most youths are looking for "direction and parameters," and students start establishing positive patterns in life through the program.

The higher-elevation climes brought 60-degree temperatures and rain for the dedication. Air Force four-star Gen. Craig R. McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, was among those in attendance.

McKinley and other officials also visited the National Guard armory in Keaau to hear about other National Guard programs for at-risk youth and adults. About $6 million in federal funds is spent each year on community outreach efforts under the About Face! family of programs. Life, academic and employment skills are offered.