During the second week of January, the Boys & Girls Clubs fo the Peninsula held the Youth of the Year celebrations at each of its three clubhouses. Each site selected 3-4 finalists who met with judges consisting of local civic and business leaders and presented speeches to an audience of supporters, families and friends. The youth's speeches were all exceptionally moving and described the youth's ability to overcome life obstacles, involvement with BGCP, and education and career aspirations. The judges were charged with the difficult task of selecting one representative from each site to participate in the finals and those selected were the following:
Janiece Burns - East Palo Alto Clubhouse
Clarisa Ontiveros - Redwood City Clubhouse
Edgar Chipres - Menlo Park Clubhouse
Alex Perez - Redwood City Clubhouse
These students were again interviewed by judges and presented their speech to a crowd of over 250 guests at the Youth of the Year Finals Celebration on January 14th. BGCP is pleased to announce that Clarisa Ontiveros, a member of the Club's Mervin G. Morris Clubhouse in Redwood City, California, has been selected as the Club's 2010 Youth of the Year. Clarisa is an 18-year old senior enrolled at Sequoia High School.
Growing up in Redwood City, Clarisa would often observe gang activity, violence, and drug deals during her three block walk to Hoover Elementary. These scenes served as a constant reminder of what her life could become. However, Clarisa stayed focused and graduated from Hoover Elementary as a member of the honor roll. As one of the few Latinas in the rigorous IB program at Sequoia High School, consisting of college-level courses, Clarisa has continued to work hard to maintain good grades and excel among her classmates from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Clarisa began volunteering at the Redwood City Clubhouse during her freshman year and is now on staff as the manager of the club's SuccessMaker department, helping younger students with reading and math skills. Clarisa wants to major in communications so that she can become an advocate for her community and culture. Clarisa ended her speech with her own interpretation of a quote by Sandra Cisneros stating: "People will say, 'What happened to Clarisa?'...They will not know that I have left to come back, for those who cannot get out."
During the week following the celebration, Clarisa was asked to speak to the faculty at her high school. Following her speech, she received a standing ovation and many teachers had tears in their eyes. She has also been asked to speak at the February Redwood City Council Meeting. Additionally, you can see an article highlighting Clarisa by clicking on the following link: Youth of the Year 2010
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