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Sunburst Youth Challenge Academy cadets recognized in Memorial Day essay contest

May 26, 2022

Students take second and third place in countywide writing competition

COSTA MESA, Calif. – Students in Sunburst Youth Challenge Academy's Class 29 earned second and third place honors in the eighth annual Jack R. Hammett Memorial Day Essay Contest, organized by the Orange County Board of Education.


Winners were announced during a board meeting May 4.


The Jack R. Hammett Memorial Day Essay Contest is named in honor of Jack R. Hammett, a Pearl Harbor survivor who, following his retirement as a warrant officer in the U.S. Navy, spent more than 50 years serving the City of Costa Mesa in government and civic affairs roles. Traditionally open to students enrolled in Orange County Department of Education’s (OCDE) alternative education program, or ACCESS, the contest was expanded this year to include students from the department’s Special Education program.


In all, ACCESS students produced 36 submissions. Sixteen additional entries — either written or illustrated — were submitted by students in grades nine through 12 or from the Adult Transition Program in OCDE’s Special Education division, which serves students with the most significant disabilities...

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