Lawrence Youth of the Year Set for Jan. 31
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Liberty Hall stage will warmly welcome three Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence candidates for the 2019 Youth of the Year ceremony on Thursday, Jan. 31. Serving as the premier event for more than 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs across the country, the upcoming Lawrence celebration will feature Ruth Gathunguri, Clay LaPierre and Allie Martinez.
The program will begin at 7 p.m. and is free for the public to attend.
Presented by Mid America Bank, Youth of the Year celebrates the life-long relationships that kids develop with the Boys & Girls Club. Those who earn a Youth of the Year nomination embody the values of leadership service, academic excellence and healthy lifestyles. They exemplify the powerful impact that the Boys & Girls Club has on kids in Lawrence.
“Every year, we get excited about our Youth of the Year candidates and this process, but this year feels extra special,” said CEO Colby Wilson. “This program represents a major reason why the Center for Great Futures is so important. We are already witnessing the benefit of having a brand new facility that appeals to our older high school kids. These candidates are a remarkable example of how Boys & Girls Club positively impacts lives, not just in elementary school but as they grow into young leaders in our community.”
A panel of judges (Dr. Anthony Lewis, Jeff Hill, Nancy DeGarmo and more to come) will spend the afternoon of Jan. 31 interviewing each candidate and scoring each of their essays and short answer questions. When the curtain goes up at 7 p.m., each candidate will be ready to deliver individual speeches to the audience. Voice of the Jayhawks, Brian Hanni, will serve as the emcee for the evening.
Tasked with a difficult assignment, the judges will tally the scores after the speeches to determine the 2019 Lawrence Youth of the Year. Their decision will be announced at the conclusion of the ceremony. The winner will then go on to represent Lawrence in the state competition. State winners advance to regional competitions; regional winners advance to the National Youth of the Year event. Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence has produced the Kansas Youth of the Year in four of the last seven years, most recently being Gathunguri in March.
Ruth Gathunguri
The reigning 2018 Kansas Youth of the Year, Ruth Gathunguri is dedicated to serving youth in Lawrence. She is a member of the Boys & Girls Club staff at the Sunset Hill Elementary location and is making her third Youth of the Year appearance. Ruth is the Co-President of the Student Body and is a member of ‘Can We Talk?’ as a senior at Free State High School. This spring, Ruth became a vital piece of Live Well Lawrence’s Tobacco 21 Task Force and even spoke on the floor of the Kansas Senate, advocating raising the legal age to purchase tobacco. The daughter of Faith Gathunguri and Gilbert Karuga, she went to the Boys & Girls Club Quail Run site as an elementary student. Ruth has career aspirations of becoming a school administrator and plans to major in education. She is looking at Johnson County Community College for her first two years of school before moving on to the University of Kansas.
Clay LaPierre
The son of Linda and Travis LaPierre, Clay LaPierre has attended the Boys & Girls Club since sixth grade. Already a proven success, Clay was named the Junior Youth of the Year at the Teen Center during his eighth grade year. A junior at Lawrence High School, Clay is a member of the Chesty Lions Marching Band. At the Club, he serves as the treasurer for the Dane Floyd Keystone Club, a community service initiative led by high school students. Clay aspires to become a mechanic and a business owner. He plans to attend Peaslee Tech and the University of Kansas.
Allie Martinez
Allie Martinez is junior at Free State High School with a passion for creating art in many forms, from painting and drawing to singing as a member of the Free State Aurora Choir. She began her Boys & Girls Club days in elementary school and earned Junior Youth of the Year honors in fifth grade. The daughter of Lisa Rooney, Allie aspires to become an interior architect, combining architecture and interior design. She plans to major in interior architecture at the University of Kansas or at the School of Art Institute of Chicago.
For additional information or to make media arrangements, contact Director of Marketing and Communications Alissa Bauer at abauer@bgclk.org.