Boys & Girls Club Awards 2021 Youth of the Year

Youth of the Year (YOY) is a Boys & Girls Club of America program that recognizes and celebrates outstanding youth in each community’s Boys & Girls Club. The program showcases how members have been involved with the Club and how it has impacted them. Participating in the competition takes time and effort, and winning the organization’s Youth of the Year title is the highest honor a Club member can receive.

Along with Raina, two high school members from the Boys & Girls Club of Yankton, Cooper Shudak and Maleik Franklin, participated in the YOY competition. Six middle school members took part in the Junior YOY competition alongside Rilyn; Finn Bartlett, Aiden Robertson, Kasaundra Albee, and Rogan Haider from Brookings, and Courtney Johnson and Jaclyn Kyte from Yankton.

“Youth of the Year is my favorite program and event at the Club,” said Chelsea Lang, the Executive Director at the Boys & Girls Club of Brookings. “Oftentimes we have watched our candidates grow up throughout the years and we can clearly see the impact the Club has made on their lives.”

Club staff watched Raina grow up, but through scattered periods of time as her family often moved between Madison, Brandon, and Brookings. Raina shared in her speech that it wasn’t until after her family’s home flooded in 9th grade, forcing them to move again, that she and her brothers regularly started attending the Club again. Even though Raina said she wasn’t ready for another change, she was excited to be back at the Club and at the Teen Center.

“My brothers and I love coming because we get to socialize, complete our homework, and talk with the staff,” Raina said in her speech. “I am grateful that I was able to keep attending the Club after so many different phases in my life. The Club has been the most consistent part of my life growing up.”

Like Raina’s Boys & Girls Club of Brookings experience, the Boys & Girls Club of Yankton has also been a consistent part of Rilyn’s life since she became a member in 2015. She has participated in many fun activities, but fishing camp and book club are two of her favorites.

In the fishing camp, Rilyn helped other members by putting worms on their hooks and caught a few “teeny” fish of her own. She was also an avid reader in book club and hopes to help continue it this summer.

“I even started writing my own book this year; maybe future book clubs will read my novels,” Rilyn said in her speech.

Developing new creative passions is just one of the ways the staff at the Boys & Girls Club of Yankton have watched Rilyn grow through the years.

“She exemplifies hard work, responsibility, and compassion in everything she does,” said Ms. Savannah, the Teen Director at the Boys & Girls Club of Yankton. “We are very proud of her and all of her accomplishments and we are anxious to see what her future holds!”