About 60 people, including parents and community members, infused the gym with conversation and excitement Tuesday night as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Gadsden and Etowah County hosted its annual Youth of the Year Program.
Youth of the Year is a pageant-like program designed to highlight, inspire and recognize outstanding teen members of the club.
Younger club members were seated right up front, getting a closer look at how their futures could unfold. Two of the youngest members volunteered to say the Boys & Girls Club code before the event began.
Three young men were competing to win the title this year: Jeremiah White, 18; Taurus Wilson Jr., 15; and Deandre Glass, 16.
Glass and Wilson both have competed in previous years; Glass was the winner last year.
Much was at stake for the trio. Besides the prestige that winning would bring, there were opportunities for scholarship and advancement into the higher levels of the competition. Winning nationally would mean winning a 2018 Toyota Corolla.
Kathy Jackson, a front desk clerk at the club, spoke highly of the young men.
“All three are very respectful, just wonderful boys,” she said. “I’ve been working here for two years, and they have always been faithful, do what’s asked of them. They are very humble, intelligent young men.”
Wilson, a sophomore at Gadsden City High School, will represent Etowah County this year in the next step of the program, held in Montgomery in March. He also will begin his role as a junior staff member beginning in the summer.
Wilson let his sense of humor shine through in his presentation, opening with a few wisecracks that had the audience chuckling. He then spoke about the impact the club has had on his life.
“I have saving graces in my corner, right here in my second home,” he said, gesturing around the room. “I’m learning, developing and growing here, thanks to the support of all the staff.”
Wilson, a self-proclaimed introvert, seemed comfortable and collected when he was announced this year’s winner. When asked about the experience, he said he was excited to finally have won.
“I feel ecstatic; the other guys are real competitors but they’re real supportive of me, too,” he said
He also mentioned that his mother had been a member of the Boys & Girls’ Club when she was his age, and showed gratitude that he had the same opportunity to be involved with the club that she had.
“I am so excited and proud of my son. He truly is a great child,” his mother, Towanna Wilson, said. “I am overwhelmed at this opportunity.”
The panel of judges included Amanda Jackson, director of the Gadsden Public Library; Jay Hedgspeth, board member at United Way; Jonathon Horton, chief of police in Rainbow City; Epiphany Cherry, facilitator of the club’s Smart Girls conference; and Michael McDermott, owner of MovieMic.
While the judges decided on the winner, Quez Williams, Gadsden club director, encouraged the three contestants.
“As a former club kid, I can truly tell you those three men represent everything that we’re about,” he said, rousing cheers from the audience. “No matter who wins tonight, there is not a loser in this situation.”
The judges deliberated for a few minutes before reaching their decision, which was based on a few different qualifications: academic success, community and school involvement, individual interviews and public speaking abilities.
“We looked at their resumés, transcripts, letters of reference,” Jackson said. “They all did wonderfully on their interviews and public speaking, which made it hard to finally decide.”
White and Glass both praised the club for the level of comfort and care shown by the staff.
“When you walk in, ‘How was your day?’ is the first question you get,” White said in his presentation. “It makes you truly feel at home.”
Glass shared White’s sentiment. “As soon as you walk in,” he said, “you can feel a presence of love here.”
Williams said this is the second year Gadsden’s club has competed in the nationwide Youth of the Year program. Before that, the club held its own version, but the winners did not compete beyond that.
“The furthest our previous winner went was to state, which is amazing,” he said. “I’d love to see Taurus do well at state and hopefully move on to the next stage.”
If he is chosen as the state winner, Wilson will move on to the regional competition June 14 in Atlanta.