By Laura Farmer
Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Young Marines program marks its 30th anniversary this year, and 1st Sgt. Vivian Price-Butler couldn’t be prouder of the journey so many of the Institute’s students have taken—and the family they’ve built along the way.
“I’m not here to recruit anyone into the Marines,” explains Price-Butler, a decorated veteran who served more than two decades in the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves, including deployments to Kuwait and Iraq. “I'm going to teach you how to be a leader, be responsible, be on time, communicate well and have manners.”
Kennedy Krieger’s Young Marines unit is based at Kennedy Krieger High School, one of five schools that comprise Kennedy Krieger School Programs. It’s the only Young Marines unit in the country made up entirely of students with developmental disabilities, and it shows what can happen when expectations are high and encouragement is steady. Students learn leadership, responsibility and teamwork—not military tactics—and in doing so, they discover the best in themselves.
They’re equal with their peers, without labels. And that’s what it’s all about.” – 1st Sgt. Vivian Price-Butler
One of those students is Ramsey, who graduated this past June after a remarkable transformation through the program. Ramsey faced serious challenges earlier in his education journey. But over time—and with the structure, encouragement and high expectations of the Young Marines—he found his footing.
“When he joined the program, he had anger issues and couldn’t stay in class, but now he’s done a complete 180,” Price-Butler says. “I’m so proud of him.”
Ramsey reflects on his progress with an understated but powerful sense of accomplishment: “I'm graduating on time,” he says.
The Young Marines program at Kennedy Krieger has provided Ramsey with not only a sense of structure for his life—through rigorous activities like field trips to encampments and community service—but also a deep sense of belonging.
“Encampment was fun—besides the exercise and pain afterwards! It was a 12-hour day of exercising! But after that, they set up a dinner like a true military dinner, so that was awesome,” he recalls of the Young Marines Encampment, an experience in which hundreds of Young Marines gather to train as a unit.
Today, his mom, Julie, beams with pride, not just for Ramsey, but for the perseverance shown by her whole family—including her other son, Blade, who graduated from Kennedy Krieger’s Young Marines program in 2024. For these two brothers and the hundreds of other students at Kennedy Krieger who have worn the Young Marines uniform over the last three decades, the program has been about more than drills and community service hours. It’s been about finding purpose, possibility and a positive sense of self-worth—one student at a time.
“I was that parent who didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Julie says. “But you fight—and you find out the light is there. You just have to keep going.”
As Price-Butler puts it, “When they put that uniform on, it gives them a sense of normalcy—they’re equal with their peers, without labels. And that’s what it’s all about.”
Did you know? 5 Young Marines graduated in 2025, with a combined total of 21 years in the program.
Photo caption: 1st Sgt. Price-Butler and Ramsey
