2018 Annual Report

member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County, Adam
Cornell, Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney, and Liberty
Franklin, currently serving as a pediatric dentist with
the Yakima Farm Workers Clinic in Eastern Washington. All
faced significant obstacles in their lives, and all had a story
to tell about the Club helping them navigate through those
obstacles because of the staff and volunteers working with
them each day, supported
by community investments.
One thing that made this
year’s program special
locally were the mentors
selected by the participants.
Most Club organizations
have a single person responsible
for this role at each
Clubhouse. At the Boys &
Girls Clubs of Skagit County,
as final preparations begin
each fall for Club-level Youth
of the Year, the teens select a mentor that will continue
through the process with them. They can be anyone in the
organization. In Sedro-Woolley, this was the Teen Coordinator
which is the most common selection. For Mount Vernon,
it was the Membership Coordinator, whose primary responsibility
is managing data and the control entry area. Finally,
at Anacortes, the candidate selected the Director of STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Initiatives for the
organization, who is based in the Administration office working
to build capacity for STEM at all Clubs, and visits each
Clubhouse once weekly to provide higher level activities and
programs like 3-D printing and the new drone program.
When Kyla Whiton, a senior at Anacortes High School, was
announced as the 2019 Youth of the Year, it was a special
moment. All the candidates would’ve made excellent representatives
of the organization, but when the scoring of
In making the announcement, Anne Clark,
Executive Director of the Skagit Valley College
Foundation, also honored Ms. Whiton with
the 2nd Annual Cardinal Award for Club
Excellence, which will provide Kyla with two
years of tuition and fees to attend Skagit
Valley College, and is worth more than $9,000.
the judges provided this result, new barriers were broken. In
Kyla, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Skagit County has a Youth
of the Year who is a passionate advocate for others facing
challenges with access due to any form of disability, and
one that focused on how the Club has helped her overcome
various obstacles by instilling a strong sense of determination
while fostering acceptance. Nathan Allen, her advisor, is
an excellent example of how
each of the professional,
trained staff who work at the
Club focus on building supportive,
caring relationships
with all members, regardless
of role.
In making the announcement,
Anne Clark, Executive
Director of the Skagit Valley
College Foundation, also
honored Ms. Whiton with the
2nd Annual Cardinal Award
for Club Excellence, which will provide Kyla with two years
of tuition and fees to attend Skagit Valley College, and is
worth more than $9,000. With this, she is well on her way
to becoming a baker and entrepreneur and reaching her
dream of opening her own bakery in Europe, where she
came to love the area and culture while living in different
places as a child in a military family.
Following a round of engagements designed to
strengthen even more her public speaking ability in
preparation for the State program in March, Kyla will make
one final appearance before State at the Annual Breakfast
for GREAT Kids at McIntyre Hall on Wednesday, March
13th. If you are interested in attending and hearing Kyla’s
inspiring message for the first or tenth time, please contact
Ian Faley at ifaley@skagitclubs.org.
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