The Hawaii Youth ChalleNGe Academy, a National Guard program for at-risk teenagers, will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new location Thursday.

The state and federally funded program takes a “quasi-military” approach to help its students plan and prepare for the future.

Beginning with the upcoming class of students, the program will be moved from its old site on the grounds of Kulani Correctional Facility to the new campus at the Keaukaha Military Reserve. The program was relocated as part of the state’s plan to reopen the minimum-security prison — which was closed because of budget concerns in 2009 — next month.