Youth of the Year

 

 

 

Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Youth of the Year program, sponsored by the Reader's Digest Foundation since 1947, recognizes teens for outstanding contributions to a member's family, school, community, and Boys & girls Club, as well as personal challenges and obstacles overcome.

 

Aubrey Maslen has been a Club member since he was in elementary school.  Coming from a single parent household, the Club provided a safe place for he and his siblings to be after school.  As a teen, Aubrey has been involved in many areas both inside and outside the Boys & Girls Club.  He has worked in the Club library for more than two years, helping younger members with reading, computers, and Power Hour.  He has also been involved with the Mayor's Teen Advisory Council and through them participated in anti-underage drinking programs such as Sticker Shock.  He is a good example both for his younger siblings and for other young members, spending time helping them with resolving conflicts and getting along better.

 

Aubrey says that as a young Club member he looked up to the older members who were helpful to he and others of his age and that he has tried to do the same for younger members with whom he interacts.  "Over the years, my mother has had to work long hours in order to provide for our family, and the Club has been a place where my siblings and I have felt safe and wanted".

 

Aubrey leaves us to attend Westminster College, Utah in the fall where he will also have the distinction of being a Daniel's scholar.

 

Sponsored by the Reader's Digest Foundation, the National Youth of the Year Program is designed to promote and recognize service to Club and community, academic performance and contributions to family and spiritual life. Competition begins with each Club selecting a Youth of the Year who receives a certificate and medallion then enters state competition. State winners receive a plaque and $1,000 scholarship then enter the regional competition. Each of the five regional winners receives a $10,000 scholarship and enters the national competition held in Washington, DC. The National Youth of the Year receives an additional $15,000 scholarship, totaling $26,000 in scholarships, and is installed by the President of the United States.