Kameleonalani Detweiler represents Maui at Hawaii Youth of the Year competition
Kameleonalani Detweiler, a sophomore at Lahainaluna
High School, represented
Maui’s Boys and Girls
Clubs at the
Hawaii Youth of the Year State Competition on March 31. The event took place for the first time virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the support of her club staff mentors, Kiana Hayes and TJ Daya, Detweiler competed against four other teens across the state. She earned the opportunity to compete at the state level after being named Maui Youth of the Year on March 5. The title includes a $2,500 scholarship from the Eugene and Ruth Freedman Family Foundation.
Detweiler has been a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui Lahaina Clubhouse for almost seven years and is engaged in a variety of programs and activities. Last summer, she earned a paid position as junior staff at the clubhouse as a participant in the Leaders-In-Training Internship Program.
Detweiler credits the Boys & Girls Clubs of Maui for helping her improve her communication and leadership skills. She states that the club has given her the confidence to be more outgoing and has shaped her into the person that she is today. In the future, she has aspirations to attend Yale University in hopes to obtain a degree in medicine.
Youth of the Year is the Boys and Girls Clubs premiere annual event which recognizes outstanding character and leadership qualities in teens. Teens are judged based on their application packets that include three essays (club experience, overcoming obstacles, and what matters to them), school grades, and letters of recommendation. During the event, the teens are expected to give a speech and participate in an interview panel in front of five event judges.
This year’s competition utilized the Zoom video conferencing platform to conduct all parts of the interview and speech process remotely. This year’s state title was awarded to Tavia Rapozo of Boys & Girls Clubs Hawaii, Kauai.
The Maui Youth of the Year event on March 5 was led by mistress of ceremonies Malika Dudley. Judges for the Maui event were: Dean Duque, senior vice president & region manager, First Hawaiian Bank; Rick Freedman, CEO of reACT Fitness; Michelle Kauhane, senior vice president of community grants and investments at Hawai‘i Community Foundation; Tyson Miyake, chief of staff to Maui Mayor Michael Victorino; and Flo Wiger, acting chancellor of University of Hawaii Maui College.