Youth of The Year Winners & Nominees

Dobyns Bennett Senior AJ Crews awarded prestigious honor of The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kingsport Youth of the Year

AJ Crews, 17-year-old Senior at Dobyns Bennett, was selected as the local Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kingsport Youth of the Year. AJ will represent Kingsport at the state Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year State Competition where he will share his unique story about his experiences at the Club and his ambitions and goals for his future.

Becoming the Boys & Girls Clubs National Youth of the Year and Junior Youth of the Year is an exciting and inspiring journey. Each year, thousands of Club teens participate in local, state and regional Youth of the Year events. Six teens, including five regional winners and a national military youth winner, advance to the National Youth of the Year Celebration, where one outstanding young person is named Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s national teen spokesperson.

AJ Crews attends DB Excel and has been a club member for 11 years. He has a passion for mentoring the younger club members of the club and was selected for work based learning at Eastman Chemical Company. Upon graduation, he plans on attending Northeast State University.

“I am very proud and excited to see AJ go on to compete at the state level,” Tay Smith, Teen Services Coordinator explained. “He shows leadership skills, compassion for other club members and gives back to the local community when he can. I feel confident that AJ will be a strong contender for the state competition!”

The Club had 4 outstanding kids nominated for youth of the year including Jakub Stewart -Junior at Dobyns Bennett, Van Davidson- Junior at Dobyns Bennett and Rylan Kiser- 8^th Grade student from Sevier Middle School.

Rylan Kiser was selected as the clubs Junior Youth of the Year. Distinct from the National Youth of the Year program, Junior Youth of the Year seeks to develop junior leaders ages 10-13 within the Club environment. The program fosters Club members’ emerging leadership abilities while preparing them for later participation in the Youth of the Year program.

Rylan has been a member of the Club for 4 years and says that the club is a safe and fun place to go after school. Rylan enjoys playing pickleball and basketball and enjoys being in leadership roles at the club, his school and in his community. After graduating from high school, Rylan would like to attend the University of Tennessee.

Tay is proud of all these kids and said, “Each of the nominees that were selected to compete were deserving of the nomination. Each one of these teens has shown tremendous growth and change over the years. I couldn’t be prouder of them for believing in themselves as much as I believe in them.”

Nominees had to present to a panel of judges that consisted of community leaders from the area. Each teen shared their story and talked about their goals, ambitions and what it means to be a positive role model in their community. Our club is incredibly proud of these kids and their accomplishments not only at the club but in school and in their community