Blair High School Senior Named Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena Youth of the Year

Blair International Baccalaureate High School senior Joshua Hing, 17, has been selected as the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena’s 2015 Youth of the Year, and will represent Pasadena as he joins 26 other Boys & Girls Club members in vying for the title of Los Angeles County Youth of the Year. Each nominee represents one of the 27 Clubs that comprise the Los Angeles County Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs.

Youth of the Year is the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s premier youth recognition program, recognizing members’ outstanding contributions to their family, school, community, and Club, as well as personal challenges and obstacles they have overcome. Youth of the Year encourages Club members to reach their full potential by achieving academic success, leading healthy lifestyles, and practicing good character and leadership.

Joshua was chosen for this honor from among seven candidates at the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena. He has attended the organization’s Slavik branch for six years, and will graduate from Blair this spring. Joshua will continue his studies and pursue his goal of becoming a clinical dietician and personal trainer and has already been accepted to California State University Northridge.

Joshua is a member of ROP Health Care, Health Occupational Students of America (HOSA) and senior class representative of Blair Health Careers Academy. He has interned at Kaiser Permanente and is currently interning at Huntington Hospital. Joshua is passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and helping others live a healthy lifestyle. He also enjoys playing basketball and getting involved in student leadership.

“As soon as you meet Josh, you can see his leadership qualities,” said Slavik Branch Director J.D. Lovrensky, who has known Joshua since he started attending the Club. “The way he relates to staff, interacts with his peers, and participates in programs shows how special of a person he is and how far he will go in life.”

Two rounds of judging will take place before the winner is announced March 25 at the historic El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. The Los Angeles County winner will advance to the state competition. State winners, who each receive a $1,000 scholarship, will then compete at the regional level. Finally, the country’s five regional winners, who are each awarded a $10,000 scholarship, will travel to Washington, D.C. where the National Youth of the Year will be named later this year. The National Youth of the Year will receive a scholarship worth up to $50,000 and will have the opportunity to meet with the President of the United States in the White House.

The National Youth of the Year serves a one-year term as a representative of the more than four million young people served by some 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide and on U.S. military installations worldwide. Duties include addressing various groups on important youth issues and the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in changing young lives.

Locally, Joshua will represent the more than 2,500 youth served every year at the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena and will attend various Club functions, such as the annual meeting of the Board of Directors and its annual fundraising gala, in his Youth of the Year capacity.

The Boys & Girls Club operates two sites in Pasadena—the Slavik Branch at 3230 East Del Mar Blvd. and the Mackenzie-Scott Branch at 2020 North Fair Oaks Ave.—and serves more than 2,500 community youth year-round from Pasadena and the nearby communities of South Pasadena, Alhambra, San Marino, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, La Canada, La Crescenta, Montrose, and Glendale. Since 1937, the mission of the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena has been to enable all young people, especially those who need it most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. The Club promotes the health, education, social, vocational, and character development of boys and girls, ages 6 to 18, and helps improve the lives of these children by helping them build self-assurance and develop leadership skills while reinforcing positive values.