SOUTH SIDE TEEN NAMED YOUTH OF THE YEAR BY BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO

Joshua Houston (pictured) was recently named the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago Youth of the Year for 2019. Photo Credit: Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago
Joshua Houston (pictured) was recently named the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago Youth of the Year for 2019. Photo Credit: Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago

South Side Teen Named Youth Of The Year By Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

One Chicago teen, Joshua Houston from Beverly, was recently awarded the title of Youth of the Year by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago. The Youth of the Year award is the highest local honor and recognizes a student’s outstanding leadership skills, commitment to service, and academic standing.

“The Youth of the Year is a national program that was formed a number of years ago by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and it is part of the core offerings of the Boys and Girls Clubs where we really focus on character development and leadership development. This Youth of the Year initiative is an offshoot of that,” said Mimi LeClair, president & chief executive officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago.

There are 23 individual clubs that are part of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago network and for the Youth of the Year initiative each club is tasked with naming their own Youth of the Year who then competes to become one of the six finalists that get to share their story at the Annual Youth of the Year Competition for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago.

“I wanted to do this because I just wanted to tell my story and get people to understand my point of view because I don’t get to talk to the people that were there that night on a regular basis. Being able to share my story with people was the main reason why I wanted to compete,” said Houston.

Houston is an 18-year-old high school senior who at a young age took on a lot of responsibility at home when his father became ill. As a way of coping with the pressure of his new responsibilities, Houston began writing poetry as an outlet for his emotions and through that, he was able to find his voice and begin to share his story.

During his moving presentation, Houston shared that he is dedicated to helping others find their voices like he was able to do. He said that many of his peers struggle with expressing their feelings and especially young men who think that sharing their true thoughts will compromise their masculinity. Houston said that he wants to work to change the misconceptions about masculinity and emotional expression to show people that they can always feel free to express themselves no matter their gender, skin color, sexuality, age, or interests.

“When I found out I had won, I was really excited and nervous at the same time. I was excited because we had been working on this since November. After all that time of putting together my speech and competing in front of different people then finally getting to win, I was very excited. I was also nervous because now I will have to go on the stage and give my speech again so it’s like the process never ends, even if you win.

There is still work to do,” said Houston. After accepting his award as the Chicago Youth of the Year, Houston now will go on to participate in Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s Illinois State competition.

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