OC Student Gets $2,000 For 'Unsung Heroes' Award

SANTA ANA, CA — An Orange County student was awarded for her efforts to shed light on systematic sexual slavery forced upon South Korean women between 1910 and 1945.

Yoojung "Sally" Jang, a senior at Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana received the $2,000 Outstanding High School Project award, officials announced Thursday.

Jang received the award from the national Lowell Milken Center Discovery Awards, which recognizes the "completion for a project detailing the lasting societal impact of an unsung hero," according to the center.

Jang was recognized for her website "A Voice in the Dark: Kim Hak-Sun’s Breakthrough Comfort Women Testimony," which told the story of South Korea's "comfort women."

These women were forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. In 1991 Kim Had-Sun — a victim of the forced sexual labor — spoke out, which drew international attention to sexual slavery.

"Her actions led to an international condemnation of sexual slavery as a war crime and sparked a lasting movement to bring truth to power," Jang's teacher, Lana Sawalha wrote in a statement.

LMC's Discover Award program offers opportunities for U.S. and international students in grades 4 through 12 to develop projects that "showcase the power of one person to make positive change in the world."

The highlighted actions of an "unsung hero" must have occurred a minimum of 20 years ago and the project must show the impact on a community or the world over time.

Students are asked to create a documentary, performance or website featuring their unsung hero.

The prize money can be spent at students’ discretion.