The History of PYCO
The origins of the Pioneer Youth Corps of Oregon lie in New York City. The designer of the program, William Lay, grew up in Brooklyn. At age 14 he joined the Washington Grey’s Cadet Corps and remained in that organization until graduating from High School. During that time he rose to become a Company Commander and started two separate Companies, one in Brooklyn and one in Long Island. In 1969 he joined the U.S. Army and eventually was stationed in Alaska. In 1971, he wrote to the Commanding General of the Alaska National Guard about starting a cadet corps similar to the Washington Grey’s. The proposal was accepted, and Mr. Lay was assigned to supervise the program development. The program was then called the National Army Cadets.
In 1972, Mr. Lay joined the Anchorage Port Police Department and began a ten-year career as a law enforcement officer in Alaska, the US Army and Oregon. After moving to Oregon in 1980 he then earned his bachelor’s in social work. Between 1985 and 1993, Mr. Lay worked with the Oregon Child Services Department. Looking around him in his field, Mr. Lay decided the most effective way to turn the tide of the many juvenile problems was to teach them how to develop the important life skills they were not learning elsewhere.
By 1993, Mr. Lay had spent over twenty years making adjustments to his National Army Cadets plans. In November of that year he formed the non-profit corporation, the Pioneer Youth Corps of Oregon in order to implement that plan.
In January 1994, he began teaching eleven cadets the basics of the program: Personal Accountability, Responsibility, Good Decision Making and Leadership. These cadets he put through an intensive seven-week training course including Cadet Basic Leadership School and the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy. Seven cadets graduated in March and formed the first PYCO NCO corps. The doors of the 1st Battalion of the Pioneer Youth Corps were then opened to general enrollment.
Over the first few years, PYCO grew quickly. By May 1995 a unit was opened in Medford, Oregon at first called the 2nd Battalion, it was soon changed to the 1st Battalion of the 186th PYCO regiment in honor of the sponsoring National Guard unit there. The Eugene unit was then named the 1st Battalion of the 162nd PYCO regiment to honor the National Guard unit there. A year later a detachment of the 1/162 opened in Cottage Grove, and February 1997 opened the 1/1249th opened in Salem under Cadet Major Beau Litner.
During this period it became evident that there was a pressing need for an academic program designed after the PYCO after school program. PYCO was also experiencing difficulty developing funds to maintain the program and meet its needs. All the staff was volunteers and the program had become so large that it was very difficult to administer. At one point there were 56 volunteer staff and over 300 cadets in four locations with no central headquarters or administration.
In the summer of 1997 Springfield School District contracted with PYCO to open an alternative education program in their district. A second contract was signed with the Harrisburg District but was never activated. It was decided that what little resources remained would be concentrated toward the development of an academic program in the Eugene-Springfield community. The other units by this time were becoming inactive and by the beginning of 1998 all of them had been disbanded including the after school program in Eugene-Springfield. In September 1997, Cadet Captain Jason Westra was appointed the Commandant of the first academy under the Pioneer Youth Corps Academy Project with Michael Rossiter as the Academy Sergeant Major. The enrollment started with two cadets, and continued to grow from there. By the fall of 1998 the program had 18 cadets and two more districts had signed contracts to refer students. In March 1998 PYCAP officially changed its name to the Pioneer Youth Corps Military Academy, no longer a pilot project but now was a full Academy program.
More growth and development came and by June 1999 the program was serving 17 school districts and had reached a maximum enrollment of 65 cadets. It was clear that this was serious program and had to become more professional and develop a more military atmosphere. By now the Academy was developing a waiting list and there was concern that students who needed the program could not attend because they could not get a referral from their district. In 1999 this problem was solved by the Oregon State Legislature, which passed Senate Bill 100 establishing the Charter School law. PYCO applied to develop the first military charter school in the US and was one of the first five charter schools developed in Oregon. Now students from anywhere in the country could enroll without a referral. To support the small outlying school districts, PYCO continued to operate an Alternative Education program in addition to the new Charter School. Since the program had out grown its space and would only get bigger, an arrangement was made to move into the old Willard Elementary School in Eugene. It only took a year to outgrow this and at 130 cadets the Academy needed its own facility.
PYCO purchased the old Eugene Moose Lodge in 2001 and moved in that summer. It took a lot of work and effort on the part of parents, cadets, and staff but classes opened in the new building in September 2001. The Academy remained in this building until June of 2003 when the Eugene School Board determined that the program did not fit their needs any longer and refused to renew the three-year Charter. The Academy had over 160 Cadets enrolled for the following year with no home. After intense negotiation the Fern Ridge School District agreed to pick up the charter and in September 2003 the new Willamette Leadership Academy opened in the old Central Elementary School under a Charter from the Fern Ridge School District.
In 2005 Colonel Lay retired from the position of corps commander. He and his wife Catherine remained on the PYCO board of directors. They retired from the board in 2011.
In February of 2012 the Willamette leadership academy board worked with the PYCO board and determined that the central elementary school in Veneta could not accept the growing number of cadets desiring to enroll due to facilities limitations. The WLA board commenced a casting about for a new location.
In August of 2012 the academy was released from its charter and obligations to the Fern ridge school board and received a new charter with the Springfield school district. In the same month the academy relocated to its present location of the old Goshen elementary school with nine companies; A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I.
The program grew to such proportions that more facilities were required. In 2013 PYCO activated a second battalion, comprised of the middle school and with the help of the Springfield school district occupied the Mohawk school.
In 1972, Mr. Lay joined the Anchorage Port Police Department and began a ten-year career as a law enforcement officer in Alaska, the US Army and Oregon. After moving to Oregon in 1980 he then earned his bachelor’s in social work. Between 1985 and 1993, Mr. Lay worked with the Oregon Child Services Department. Looking around him in his field, Mr. Lay decided the most effective way to turn the tide of the many juvenile problems was to teach them how to develop the important life skills they were not learning elsewhere.
By 1993, Mr. Lay had spent over twenty years making adjustments to his National Army Cadets plans. In November of that year he formed the non-profit corporation, the Pioneer Youth Corps of Oregon in order to implement that plan.
In January 1994, he began teaching eleven cadets the basics of the program: Personal Accountability, Responsibility, Good Decision Making and Leadership. These cadets he put through an intensive seven-week training course including Cadet Basic Leadership School and the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy. Seven cadets graduated in March and formed the first PYCO NCO corps. The doors of the 1st Battalion of the Pioneer Youth Corps were then opened to general enrollment.
Over the first few years, PYCO grew quickly. By May 1995 a unit was opened in Medford, Oregon at first called the 2nd Battalion, it was soon changed to the 1st Battalion of the 186th PYCO regiment in honor of the sponsoring National Guard unit there. The Eugene unit was then named the 1st Battalion of the 162nd PYCO regiment to honor the National Guard unit there. A year later a detachment of the 1/162 opened in Cottage Grove, and February 1997 opened the 1/1249th opened in Salem under Cadet Major Beau Litner.
During this period it became evident that there was a pressing need for an academic program designed after the PYCO after school program. PYCO was also experiencing difficulty developing funds to maintain the program and meet its needs. All the staff was volunteers and the program had become so large that it was very difficult to administer. At one point there were 56 volunteer staff and over 300 cadets in four locations with no central headquarters or administration.
In the summer of 1997 Springfield School District contracted with PYCO to open an alternative education program in their district. A second contract was signed with the Harrisburg District but was never activated. It was decided that what little resources remained would be concentrated toward the development of an academic program in the Eugene-Springfield community. The other units by this time were becoming inactive and by the beginning of 1998 all of them had been disbanded including the after school program in Eugene-Springfield. In September 1997, Cadet Captain Jason Westra was appointed the Commandant of the first academy under the Pioneer Youth Corps Academy Project with Michael Rossiter as the Academy Sergeant Major. The enrollment started with two cadets, and continued to grow from there. By the fall of 1998 the program had 18 cadets and two more districts had signed contracts to refer students. In March 1998 PYCAP officially changed its name to the Pioneer Youth Corps Military Academy, no longer a pilot project but now was a full Academy program.
More growth and development came and by June 1999 the program was serving 17 school districts and had reached a maximum enrollment of 65 cadets. It was clear that this was serious program and had to become more professional and develop a more military atmosphere. By now the Academy was developing a waiting list and there was concern that students who needed the program could not attend because they could not get a referral from their district. In 1999 this problem was solved by the Oregon State Legislature, which passed Senate Bill 100 establishing the Charter School law. PYCO applied to develop the first military charter school in the US and was one of the first five charter schools developed in Oregon. Now students from anywhere in the country could enroll without a referral. To support the small outlying school districts, PYCO continued to operate an Alternative Education program in addition to the new Charter School. Since the program had out grown its space and would only get bigger, an arrangement was made to move into the old Willard Elementary School in Eugene. It only took a year to outgrow this and at 130 cadets the Academy needed its own facility.
PYCO purchased the old Eugene Moose Lodge in 2001 and moved in that summer. It took a lot of work and effort on the part of parents, cadets, and staff but classes opened in the new building in September 2001. The Academy remained in this building until June of 2003 when the Eugene School Board determined that the program did not fit their needs any longer and refused to renew the three-year Charter. The Academy had over 160 Cadets enrolled for the following year with no home. After intense negotiation the Fern Ridge School District agreed to pick up the charter and in September 2003 the new Willamette Leadership Academy opened in the old Central Elementary School under a Charter from the Fern Ridge School District.
In 2005 Colonel Lay retired from the position of corps commander. He and his wife Catherine remained on the PYCO board of directors. They retired from the board in 2011.
In February of 2012 the Willamette leadership academy board worked with the PYCO board and determined that the central elementary school in Veneta could not accept the growing number of cadets desiring to enroll due to facilities limitations. The WLA board commenced a casting about for a new location.
In August of 2012 the academy was released from its charter and obligations to the Fern ridge school board and received a new charter with the Springfield school district. In the same month the academy relocated to its present location of the old Goshen elementary school with nine companies; A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I.
The program grew to such proportions that more facilities were required. In 2013 PYCO activated a second battalion, comprised of the middle school and with the help of the Springfield school district occupied the Mohawk school.
