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Locals graduate from Youth Challenge
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A Richmond Hill youth graduated from the Fort Gordon Youth Challenge Academy on March 5 during a ceremony at the Bell Auditorium in Augusta.
Corey Stanley of Richmond Hill was among more than 250 students who earned their GEDs. Other area graduates included Jasmine Patterson of Fort Stewart; Joshua Henry-Williams, Marcus Ross, John Taylor and Romane Brown, all of Hinesville; and Christon Scriven and Joshua Stringfield, both of Midway..
Since the first Youth Challenge Academy class graduated in 1993, more than 10,000 once “at-risk” Georgia teens have completed the National Guard-sponsored youth development program. This class represented the largest class to graduate from Georgia’s YCA since it began 13 years ago.
Georgia’s Youth Challenge Academy is a voluntary 22-week, in-residence, military-styled program that emphasizes academic completion, life-skills development and physical fitness. High-school dropouts between the ages of 16-18 are eligible to apply for YCA admission.
Only 40 percent of applicants are accepted each year. Teens that complete the 22-week program graduate and receive their GED or diploma.
Many YCA graduates go onto four-year or community colleges. Others return to their hometowns with their GEDs and marketable skill sets. Some graduates enlist in the military.
Georgia was among the first states to operate the pilot YCA program in 1993. Today, the Georgia National Guard operates two YCA campuses, the original campus at Fort Stewart and a second campus that opened at Fort Gordon near Augusta in 2000. Each year, more than 1,000 students complete the program and receive their GEDs.
Maj. Gen. William T. Nesbitt, Georgia’s adjutant general, delivered the commencement address and applauded the students and their parents for the decision to complete the program. Nesbitt recently was awarded the Challenge Champions Award from the National Guard Youth Foundation for his outstanding support of YCA.

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Groups hand out scholarships
RH theater scholarship
Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer shows her Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. With her are Tom Harris, Ashlee Farris, Brett Berry and Kim Diebold. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016. - photo by Photo provided.

Three reports recently presented scholarships

Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer received the Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016.

Garden Club

The Richmond Hill Garden Club recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Katherine Wood and a $500 scholarship to Carly Vargas, both seniors graduating from Richmond Hill High School.

The awards were presented May 8 during Honors Night at RHHS.

Wood plans to attend Green Mountain College in Vermont and major in environmental studies.

Vargas plans to attend Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, to pursue a degree in either environmental studies or biology.

The garden club awards a $1,000 scholarship annually to a local high school senior who plans to major in a field related to environmental concerns, plants and/or gardening.

This year, due to having two exceptional candidates, the garden club awarded an additional $500 scholarship.

Exchange Club

The Exchange Club of Richmond Hill recently named Caroline Odom as its student of the year.

The club each month during the school year names a student of the month, and the student of the year is chosen from among those winners.

Awards are based on academic performance, community involvement and leadership.

Monthly winners receive $100, with the annual winner getting a $1,000 scholarship.

The Exchange Club has been recognizing students for more than 30 years.

Odom will go on to compete in the Georgia District Exchange Club against students from across the state.

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