Thomas Hunter Middle School eighth grader Jordan Sadeg of Port Haywood, won honorable mention in the 2022 Tidewater Oyster Gardeners Association’s Middle School Essay Contest for her essay, “Oysters Through History.”

The essay contest winners attended TOGA’s annual membership meeting Jan. 21 at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to read their winning essays.

For her essay, Sadeg won $50. All of the winning essays will soon be available on the TOGA webpage at oystergardener.org.

The TOGA Board has agreed to run the contest again this year. The theme of the essay is “Consider the Oyster.” The competition is open to all Virginia students in grades six through eight. Homeschooled students are welcome to enter.

Prizes will remain $500, $250, $100 and $50 for first, second, third and honorable mention winners, respectively, with $200 going to the first-place essay winner’s school.

For detailed contest rules and more information about the 2022 winners, visit oystergarden...