Youth of the Year

Being named YOUTH OF THE YEAR is the highest honor a local Club's member can attain. Since 1947, the Reader's Digest has sponsored this special award to promote and recognize service to Club and community, academic performance and contributions to family and spiritual life. Competition begins at the local level, moves on to state competition, then to regional competition, and if successful there, on to national competition, which is held in Washington, D.C. The winner collects scholarship money at each of these competition levels, and by the time he or she is named The National Youth of the Year, some twenty-six thousand dollars has been awarded to that Club member. The President of the United States installs the national winner in an Oval Office ceremony.

Our 2009 Youth of the Year is a young man who certainly meets the guidelines that the Reader's Digest has established for this award. He is a leader in his club here at the Teen Center. He always steps up to the plate when the organization needs his help. Just recently, he completed a mural as part of a Home Depot community project. The mural has been placed in Ralph Sampson Park for the community to enjoy day and night. Our winner this year is also serving as an intern at Miller Cupp Associates Architects in Harrisonburg. There, he is learning about a career in architecture, his chosen field of study when he begins college next fall.

Life was not quite so well-defined for our 2009 Youth of the Year before he joined the Boys & Girls Club 11 years ago. Before that, he was unfocused and looking for a place to belong. The Club helped bring focus and direction to his life.