Philadelphia, PA, June 23, 2008 – Lady Ashley Byrd, a member of
the Boys & Girls Club of Philadelphia, has been named the 2008 Youth of the
Year and received a $1,000 scholarship for college. Sponsored by the Reader’s Digest Foundation
and administered by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, this national
program recognizes superior leadership skills, academic achievement, obstacles
overcome and outstanding service to Boys & Girls Clubs and the
community. This year’s local winners
will be honored at the Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year dinner on
Monday, June 23, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. at the Union League.
Lady Ashley, a senior at Philadelphia High School for Girls and a three-year
member at the Nicetown Boys & Girls Club was chosen from hundreds of
teens who represented their Boys & Girls Clubs in the Youth of the Year
program. Lady Ashley is an aspiring
journalist and expresses herself through her poetry. A selection of her work was
recently published in her high school’s newspaper. Lady Ashley, a member of the Writers Café,
Dance Club, and West Indian Student Association, also serves on staff of the
Literary Magazine.
Adam Ledbetter, of the Germantown Boys & Girls Club, was
named the 2008 Philadelphia Youth of the Year runner-up. This year’s local winners were:
Christina Gonzalez (Bracetti Boys & Girls
Club), Alex Gonzalez (Lauretha Vaird Boys & Girls Club), Joseph Smiley
(Nicetown Boys & Girls Club), Jah’lil Williams (Wissahickon Boys &
Girls Club), Owen Joyner (Northeast Frankford Boys & Girls Club),
Khadija Abdullahi (Wissahickon Boys
& Girls Club), Diamond Coplin (Northeast Frankford Boys & Girls
Club), Dominique Kinard (Germantown Boys
& Girls Club), Annette Noel (Bridesburg Boys & Girls Club), and William
Lawrence (Bridesburg Boys & Girls Club).
Youth of the Year is a Boys & Girls Clubs of America program
designed to recognize outstanding teens at each Club, and to give them a chance
to win scholarships for post-high school education. Teens from each Club undergo a rigorous
process that includes written recommendations from peers and teachers, essays,
and an interview with a diverse panel of judges.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of
Philadelphia has been serving children since 1887 and is a member agency of
Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia is
the Positive Place for Kids and enables all young people, especially those who
need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible
citizens. There are
Clubs in Bridesburg, Frankford, Germantown, Kensington, Nicetown, West
Kensington, and Wissahickon. The Clubs
offer proven-effective programming for preschool day-care and for all ages
through 18 after school and during the summer.
