2023 Youth of the Year Celebration

Olive first started attending the Club almost five years ago as a first grader. She likes the Boys & Girls Club because it’s better than being in a tiny room at am/pm.  Since then, she has made a remarkable impression on all of us with her enthusiasm, creativity, and positive attitude. Even at a young age, she has always expressed gratitude towards the staff and the club for all of the fun activities she has enjoyed here. Now as a fifth grader, Olive serves as an example to her fellow club members by always being considerate to others, trying new things, and helping out around the club. She has a solid character of kindness that is unwavering in the face of peer pressure. The Club helps her cope with stress by playing games and she loves poetry and reading.  She has remained true to herself throughout the years and her authentic personality has been a delight to both club members and staff.  She loves all of the staff and calls them amazing but she really likes Mrs. True because she remembered her birthday and got her a notebook on our birthday.  Her sage advice to all Club members is “Don’t run in hallways and stay away from puddles” In her spare time, she is a lethal paintball enthusiast. 

When Olive finishes high school, she would like to go to college to learn about digital videography to eventually become a paranormal investigator and an actress as a side gig.  Ladies and gentlemen, please congratulate Olive as overall Youth of the Year representing the Boys & Girls Club of Vista.

Joseph has been attending the Club since 2017. Joseph is a natural leader. He says the Club taught him how to make smart choices and always stay calm.  He is excited that the Club is teaching him how to code now.  He is the current President of our K-Kids. Joseph helps the Club and the Club helps him by opening doors allowing him to express himself and celebrate servant leadership. His advice to Club members is to “always have fun”.   When he grows up, he’d like to be a professional soccer player or a world-class bassist.

I nominated Nico Nash to be our Boys and Girls Club of Vista Social Recreation Youth of the Year.  Getting to know Nico since his start at our club, I have watched him grow in person and character to become one our most composed, enthusiastic, level-headed, reasonable, mature club members; and consistently, or more accurately, genuinely, living up to these traits every day he steps foot into our club.  He is always open to participate wholly in every activity he chooses to take part in, always offering his attention to understand directions, to ask questions when proper, to offer his insight and then some, as I have witnessed him entertain his fellow club members with the way he can carry on a conversation on whatever the topic may be.  He has a great way of understanding scenarios, and all of this has helped Nico conduct himself in a way that makes him enjoyable when he is engaging in all forms of social recreational activities, from the games to flag football or soccer games on the field or in the gym (He is a gamer and never loses his cool), even to his polite, respectful, and willingness to participate in our Smart Moves/Choose Love program, a program that helps our youth understand and cope with emotions they experience in themselves and others and helps them makes the best choices for a variety of situations they may encounter, and I really do appreciate his willingness to be a part of this, among others that do this also.  But Nico really stood out this year.  From my observation, all of this is what led to his selection for this award!

For our Club’s Academic Youth of the Year, I nominated Darryl Wilson based on his self-driven ability to engage in his assignments and following power hours procedures and protocol in a understanding and timely manner, which is deeply appreciated.  He has settled in and grown in character over these past two school years, to see him step out of his shell, watching him become more involved in our music program, K-Kids, and Flag Football.  And it just says a lot to see someone like Darryl give his best foot forward in power hour as that positive vibe can allow his transition easily into the next activity.  It shows me that he is enjoying his time here at the club.  And to Darryl, I really would like to see you carry this positive vibe, turn it into continued growing confidence for yourself as it pertains to your Academic goals, and share that feeling to help others along the way, even if it’s just by example.  Thank you.

I picked Brecklin as the STEM club member of the year because of his endless hunger for challenges and results both in and outside the classroom. His ambition to learn the functionality and potential of technology gives hope that his generation will be equipped and capable to handle the unknown that potentially lies ahead. I look forward to more Minecraft tutorial tips and written circuit board ideas as Brecklin continues to attend the club and hope that he will continue to represent the STEM department in future projects.

I want to thank the staff at Boys and girls club for creating a good experience. I would also like to thank my friends at the Boys and girls club because they also help make it a lot of fun. The club is a nice, fun place to go for the end of the day. It makes me feel good to be Artist of the year. I've had a lot of past experience with art. My favorite form of art is sculpting with clay. I do art because it's fun for me and the artist gets something out of it."

This year our Youth of the Year award is going to a member who has been attending our Madison program for the last two years. In the beginning, she was quiet and kept to herself but soon she was actively participating in activities and making new friends. Now we have ongoing monopoly games and interesting conversations. We can always count on her to say hi/bye every morning and afternoon. This may not seem like a lot, but the majority of members don’t say hi/bye to staff when they are coming and going. She is friendly, polite, smart, and now Madison’s Youth of the Year. Please congratulate Kenzie Masters!”

The Youth of the Year we chose for the kindergarten group has always been such a positive role model to her peers. She is caring, friendly, and smart. She walks into the club everyday with a big smile on her face, ready for the fun activities and laughs to come ahead. She enjoys doing arts and crafts and playing with her friends. I know I can always count on her to make good choices. Rose Paxton is a bright young lady with a bright future ahead of her.

Jackson is always a pleasure to have in music! He is always helping others to learn, helping himself to grow and always has a positive attitude when it comes to life in general. Jackson’s shows so much heart and spirit when it comes to music, but I think that’s just the way he likes to approach life! I learn a lot from him all the time, and I couldn’t be more proud to have him in my class!"

I would like to take the time to present to you a young individual who has been attending the Boys and Girls Club of Vista for almost 4 years now. This awesome person is always full of positive energy and not only enjoys attending the club but has told me numerous times that he calls this place his second home. One of his favorite things to do at the club is being able to have access to the gym where he can enjoy all the fun sports. Now as a 4th grader, he has worked his way up the ranks and has participated in numerous programs such as K-Kids, Safety Patrol, Football, and many more. He is indeed a great example to everyone around him. I truly believe that one day he will become a professional athlete because he is always very determined and dedicated to all types of sports. So with that being said, could we please give a round of applause to Issaiah Rivas for being selected as Youth of the year for Sportsmanship. 

It's an honor to be here tonight to acknowledge how proud we are of our members' achievements and growth. It's my pleasure to present this year's Youth of The Year award for VMMS. This 7th grader takes pride in her academics and understands the value of education. For example, at the beginning of the school year when construction started, we had many days without Wi-Fi. Her assignment was due that day and was frustrated at how much time it took away from completing her assignment at the Boys and Girls Club and at school. She was worried because it had to be submitted by a certain time. The next thing I knew she was packing her belongings. I questioned, are you going home? She said no, I'm going to the library to finish my assignment. Her father had given her permission and confirmation to walk to the public library to finalize and submit her assignment, on time. Another great quality she has is how caring she is toward her peers and their education as well. She volunteers to help others when she sees they need it. Or she makes herself available if they ask her for help or had a question about homework. 

Without further ado, please give the Youth of the Year, Kaitlin Cassidy a great big round of applause.......