CHRISTIANSBURG (WSLS 10) - The Growth Through Opportunity program graduated its first three cadets in the New River Valley on Thursday.
GTO teams up local first responders and young adults with special needs. The program started in Roanoke and has now expanded to Montgomery County.
Thursday's graduates spent the last four months with officers and firefighters at six stations in Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Radford.
They learned job and interview skills, did physical fitness training and helped train a police K-9.
In turn, the first responders also learned how to better handle calls involving special needs.
The goal is to prepare and help these young people be successful in the job market.