LaQuita Grinnage Wins Midwest Region Youth of the Year Title
As a brand new
Alexander
Hamilton
High School alumna and incoming college freshman, LaQuita Grinnage’s summer just got even brighter.
On Tuesday, July 8, she competed against 13 other teens to be named the Midwest Region Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Youth of the Year is the highest honor any Club member can receive. It recognizes a member’s outstanding contributions to family, school, community and Club, as well as personal challenges and obstacles overcome.
The last Midwest Region Youth of the Year winner from
Milwaukee was Ronald Fancher of the Augusta M. LaVarnway Boys (& Girls) Club in 1976. The last National Youth of the Year winner from here was Kenneth Ivory of the former Franklin Place Boys Club in 1975. Both young men met President Gerald Ford at the White House.
In December, Grinnage, a member of the St. Joan Antida High School Boys & Girls Club, won the 2008 Northwestern Mutual Foundation Youth of the Year title for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (BGCGM). In March 2009, Grinnage competed and won against 19 other Club members from across the state for the Boys & Girls Clubs’ top honor -- Wisconsin Youth of the Year.
“We are so happy and excited for LaQuita,” says
Jim Clark, president & CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. “She is an example from among thousands of how we make a tangible impact on young lives. The support we’ve given to LaQuita is what we do for so many kids and teens to help them realize their full potential.”
As the regional winner, Grinnage will be awarded a $10,000 college scholarship and will advance to the national competition in
Washington. The National Youth of the Year receives an additional $15,000 college scholarship and will be installed by President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the Oval Office. Since 1967, BGCA has bestowed the title of National Youth of the Year to 62 teens.
LaQuita Grinnage
2009 Midwest Region Youth of the Year for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America