MONTHLY SPOTLIGHTS

Character & Leadership Development The Leaders of tomorrow

Eighty-nine percent of Club members say that if they are the leader of a group they try to make sure that everyone in the group feels important. Our mission is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens. One way that we ensure that we are empowering our members to achieve this mission is through Character & Leadership Development programs. These programs are giving members the opportunity to use their voices to make a difference, not just in the Club, but also in the community. 

The Youth of the Year program is the Club’s premier Character and Leadership Development program. Members take all of their experiences and knowledge from programs such as Keystone, Torch Club, SMART Girls, and Passport to Manhood and share what they’ve learned through a series of essays and speeches. According to Kayla Hurse, Academic Success Coach at the Benton Harbor Joel E. Smilow Teen Center, “The Youth of the Year competition is a celebration of brilliance. Each candidate is truly special in their own unique way and our goal is to showcase their talents for the community to see. It was important for us to not allow the process to feel negative in any way for our three candidates.”

Kayla continued by saying, “The Youth of the Year process helps the candidates find the voice inside of themselves that they might not have known was there. As the process progresses, you can really see the candidates' self-confidence growing and turning them into true leaders.”

Throughout the Youth of the Year process, candidates are asked to meet with advisors, craft essays, complete mock interviews and develop a speech to tell a story about the impact the Club has made on their life. After months of prep work and rehearsing their speech, it’s showtime! Each candidate must go through an interview process and perform their speech to a panel of judges. The judges score each candidate based on the Youth of the Year criteria and select a winner. However, before the winner is announced, each candidate must get up on stage and give their speech again in front of the community. 

Kayla reflected, “Leading the Youth of the Year program has been a wild journey with several ups and downs along the way. However, it was a beautiful experience and I’m proud of the grit and resilience each candidate showed throughout the process. They are truly amazing by every stretch of the imagination and I hope that they know it.”

Club Character & Leadership Development programs provide opportunities for members to develop skills and participate in activities that contribute to positive change. Nationally, ninety-one percent of Club youth report that, as a leader, they make sure everyone feels important. It is that consideration amongst our young people that is fostering a new generation of leaders who are fully prepared to live and lead in a diverse world.