The Kirkland Boys & Girls Club recently announced their 2010 Youth of the Year recipient. Deana Simonian, a senior at Lake Washington High School, and nine-year club member, competed against other Youth of the Quarter candidates and spoke with poise of the positive impact the club has had in her life and how it has shaped who she is today.

Judges consisted of Holly Finkbeiner (youth advocate), Jenn LeMond (Jeremiah Milbank Donor, Microsoft Corp.), Georgia Schoonover (John L. Scott Real Estate), and Travis Shumaker (president of the KB&GC Board of Directors, WDS Global). They convened in the club’s newly constructed Teen Center and judged the winner of this year’s Kirkland Boys & Girls Club Youth of the Year.

Simonian will now compete against other Youth of the Year contestants from all around King County on Feb. 9 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. She will also be the recipient of a college scholarship from the club’s Finkbeiner Trust and will represent the Kirkland Boys & Girls Club as their 2010 Youth of the Year.

Youth of the Year is the premier youth recognition program for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The Youth of the Year award promotes and celebrates local members’ service to the club, community, and family; their outstanding academic performance, moral character, life goals, poise, and speaking abilities. The program is designed to help kids reach their fullest potential and in turn be rewarded for the positive change and impact they are making in all of these areas of their lives.