Author: Sarah Durham

Between January and April, the State Association partnered with a student from Washington State University to explore some of the ways our organization and our local Clubs can better engage youth voice in programming decisions and overall planning.

Tammy Ha, a sophomore at WSU, and current president of the International Student Council, is pursuing a double major in Psychology and Human Development, while working as an undergraduate research assistant at the IMPACT Lab, where she is focusing on finding preventative methods to address childhood adversity. During her internship at BGCWA, Tammy learned about Boys & Girls Clubs of America history and current programming initiatives. Tammy reached out to several other Youth Development organizations in WA, including School’s Out Washington, MentorWA, and YMCA’s Youth in Government to better understand models of youth voice inclusion throughout the field. Tammy then turned to expertise already present among WA’s Boys & Girls Clubs organizations and collected best practices that can be shared among our network of Clubs. Tammy’s findings and recommendations are pointing us to additional efforts to include our Club youth in WA State Youth of the Year planning, and later in 2024, we will once again form an all-teen WA Keystone Summit planning committee. The input and opinions of these teens will fully guide the summit planning, workshop, and keynote speaker candidate recruitment. Thank you, Tammy, for your hard work with us over the past 4 months, and congratulations on your internship scholarship award from BGCWA!

On March 26th through 28th, 13 finalists from across WA state competed to be the next WA State Youth of the Youth and WA State Military Youth of the Year.

Youth and their mentors gathered at Tumwater Boys & Girls Club on Tuesday night for a pizza dinner and getting-to-know-you games. On Wednesday morning, finalists arrived at the Capitol early for a breakfast and to pose for a photo with Governor Inslee. They heard remarks from Rep. Greg Nance, a Club alumni himself, and Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck. Rep Nance presented each finalist with a plaque and Lieutenant Governor Heck presented Zaida of Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties with the 2024 Community Service Award.

Zaida of Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties accepting the 2024 Community Service Award from Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck.

After breakfast, youth met with the HR team at WSECU in Olympia for a session on interview tips. Later, the finalists convened in Seattle at one of Boys & Girls Clubs of King County’s Clubs for speech practice. Once the finalists felt confident in their speaking abilities, the group headed to downtown Seattle to check-in at their hotel. A little while later, there was a limo ride around the neighborhoods of Seattle, a stop for ice cream and some photos of the Seattle skyline from Kerry Park.

The 13 finalists enjoying a tasty ice cream treat.

All finalists posing on the steps leading up to Bell Harbor International Event Center on Pier 66.

Thursday was the big day and each finalist arrived at Bell Harbor International Event Center on Pier 66 in Seattle for their scheduled interview with the judges followed by an “ice-cream social” where finalists gave their speeches in front of the judges and each other. The 2024 winners were announced at the Celebration Dinner where each finalist once again gave their speech but this time to a room of 250 guests, ranging from Club staff, youth families, and Youth of the Year sponsors.

Fritzy of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin accepting the 2024 Cooperative Spirit Award sponsored by Qualstar Credit Union and presented by Tim Motts, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue and president of the board of Boys & Girls Clubs of WA State.

The two 2024 winners, Jordan R, from Joint Base Lewis McChord, the WA State Military Youth of the Year, and Tanzil H. of Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, the WA State Youth of the Year.

We’d like to thank all our sponsors below who made the 2024 WA State Youth of the Year responsible.

It’s that time of year again! The 2024 WA State Youth of the Year will be held the last week of March. The three-day event will kick off on the evening of Tuesday, March 25th with finalists and their Club mentors gathering at Tumwater Club for a night of dinner, games and getting-to-know-yous.

Wednesday morning will begin early with a long-held tradition of the Governor Mansion’s Breakfast. Afterwards the teens will head to WSECU headquarters nearby for an interview prep workshop. The afternoon will be spent with additional speech practice, and a fun tour around Seattle in a limo, with a possible visit to an ice-cream shop.

Thursday’s the big day at Bell Harbor International Conference Center. Teens will give their speeches in front of a panel of esteemed judges. Representatives from Umpqua Bank, Swire Coca-Cola, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, WA State Legislature, School’s Out Washington, Bezos Family Foundation, and WA State 2023 Youth of the Year Alumna will select the 2024 Washington State Youth of the Year and 2024 Washington State Military Youth of the Year. The winners will be announced at the dinner that will be attended by Club leaders, youth mentors and their families as well as Youth of the Year corporate sponsors. Each finalist will have the opportunity to share their personal story with the Celebration audience. All youth will receive a $500 scholarship, and several finalists will be recognized with additional merit scholarships.

After the dinner, we’ll be doing something a little different and definitely special–an afterparty for the teens! We’re excited to kick off this year’s Youth of the Year!

Every year, the State Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs of Washington hosts the “Clubhouse in Columbia” event, which is a Club-like environment placed in the heart of the State Legislative Building during the legislative session.

For 2024, Club CEOs from around the state completed over 110 individual meetings with legislators. Club teens met with many of these state lawmakers when they visited Clubhouse in Columbia. Thank you to all of our legislative delegations for their work supporting Clubs and youth, and to those who found time out of their busy schedules to visit with us. Learning about Club programs helps to inspire the WA State Legislature to invest more in youth.

It is with great satisfaction and excitement that we reflect on 2023 throughout WA Boys & Girls Clubs! 

Local Clubs have mostly rebounded to the pre-pandemic numbers in the number of youth served and average daily attendance!  Clubs grew their reach in several new communities, and expanded many programs focused on mental health, college and career readiness, and academic support in our nearly 160 existing locations.  Several tribal communities added their first ever Boys & Girls Clubs programs, with culturally appropriate programming available from Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Native Services. 

The State Association has made great strides in supporting Clubs’ mental health promotion by offering trainings and program implementation support with some impressive results: over 1,000 Youth Development professionals trained in trauma-informed care practices; 14 Behavioral Support Specialists supported with networking and professional development opportunities; and over $4,500,000 raised to maintain these efforts through 2025. 

Our youth’s physical and mental health is our number one priority, for without a healthy lifestyle, all other priority outcomes for our young people are that much harder to achieve. In 2024, we look forward to deepening our impact with partnerships with other statewide and local youth serving organizations, research entities, funders, and most importantly, our Club families and communities! 

The Mental Health Promotion Pilot at Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties recently garnered the attention of KOMO 4 news.

Funded by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the Norcliffe Foundation, the Mental Health Promotion Pilot operates in Clubs across the state. It’s currently in its second year of a three-year pilot program. We’ve seen amazing results.

Jenny Vollmer, the Director of Behavioral Health for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties, leads mental health work with kids across the tri-city region.

Click here to see what Jenny’s impact has been.