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2010 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award

FBI Honolulu December 10, 2010
  • Special Agent Tom Simon (808) 566-4300

On Friday 12/10 at 10:00 a.m. in the Honolulu FBI Field Office, Interim Special Agent in Charge Daphne Hearn presented the 2010 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) to Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy (HNGYCA). HNGYCA Director Rick Campbell and HNGYCA Assistant Director J.D. Williams accepted the award.

In Honolulu, the National Guard Youth Challenge Program works to intervene and reclaim the lives of high school dropouts, providing program graduates the skills they need to succeed. Since the program started in 1994, more than 2,578 cadets have graduated from the program, with more than 2,200 earning their high school degree.

For 15 years, the academy, located in Kapolei, has worked to help youth, utilizing a two-phase plan for success. The initial residential phase is a five-and-half month long program that focuses on education and self-discipline. The second phase lasts for a year and pairs teens up with a mentor.

On average, the program reaches about 400 teens a year, through two sessions of 200 graduates. Teens are placed in the program through school counselors, the court system, and voluntarily.

By proving participants with the education needed to earn high school degree, the Youth Challenge Program enables teens to contribute to society after graduation. The program opens cadets’ eyes to opportunities in higher education, the military, and other employment opportunities. Through their work, the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy staff continues to change the lives of at-risk youth.

Each of the 56 FBI field offices throughout the nation selects one Director’s Community Leadership Award recipient. On March 25, 2011, the assistant director of the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy, J.D. Williams, will travel to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to accept a more formal award from FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III at a ceremony for DCLA recipients from each FBI field office.

Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy Accepts FBI Award (12/10/10)
From left to right: FBI Community Relations Specialist Luke Goolsby, HNGYCA Assistant Director J.D. Williams, FBI Interim Special Agent in Charge Daphne Hearn, and HNGYCA Director Rick Campbell