Loveland Reporter-Herald

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS YOUTH OF THE YEAR

Eighth grader Jose Guzman was junior winner last year

- By Will Costello wcostello@ prairiemou­ntainmedia.com

Larimer County Boys & Girls Clubs has found its latest Senior Youth of the Year, who happens to also be the Junior Youth of the Year winner last year, in Loveland.

Jose Guzman, an eighth grader at New Vision Charter School, credits the club with his introducti­on to basketball, something Guzman said has been an almost meditative experience, and allowed him to cope with things that might be happening at home.

“Basketball and sports became that outlet, where I could express my feelings in a healthy way,” Guzman said at the club Wednesday afternoon.

The goal of the Boys & Girls Club nationwide, according to Jacqueline Longhurst, director of the Loveland branch of the Larimer County Boys & Girls Clubs, is to find things like basketball, or technology, or business, or any number of other activities, to interest young adults and set them on a path toward success.

“They’re doing a program in the tech lab about money,” Longhurst said Wednesday afternoon.

“So they have these accounts where they’re managing stocks, so it just teaches them how to manage money, and what stocks are.”

While Guzman has spent previous years engaged in a contest to invest money in the best way possible, he’s been preoccupie­d

“When kids are, what’s the word? Not listening to the staff members, I try to shift their focus to the staff members.” — Jose Guzman

this year with his work preparing for the Youth of the Year competitio­n, something that Longhurst has worked closely with.

“After that’s done I’ll probably get more involved,” Guzman said.

Guzman, 14, was the Junior Youth of the Year from Larimer County last year, a competitio­n encompassi­ng younger members of the club.

This year’s junior winner is Samantha Monge, a sixth-grade student at Estes Park Elementary School.

The Senior Youth of the Year competitio­n is more involved, requiring essays, speeches, and a presentati­on before a panel of judges.

According to Jessica Schultz, marketing director for the Larimer County Boys & Girls Clubs, there are more participan­ts in the younger cohort of the competitio­n, owing to the more rigorous standards for older participan­ts.

This, Schultz said, only speaks to the determinat­ion of the Senior Youth of the Year competitor­s, who have to fulfill a greater number of requiremen­ts to take part in the competitio­n.

Primary in the judging of candidates, Schultz said, are leadership capabiliti­es, something both she and Longhurst said Guzman had in excess.

“When kids are, what’s the word? Not listening to staff members, I try my best to shift their focus to the staff members,” Guzman said.

Longhurst nodded her confirmati­on.

 ?? JENNY SPARKS — LOVELAND REPORTER-HERALD ?? Jose Guzman, 14, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County Senior Youth of the Year, plays basketball Wednesday at the club in Loveland. Jose was selected as the Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County Junior Youth of the Year last year.
JENNY SPARKS — LOVELAND REPORTER-HERALD Jose Guzman, 14, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County Senior Youth of the Year, plays basketball Wednesday at the club in Loveland. Jose was selected as the Boys & Girls Club of Larimer County Junior Youth of the Year last year.

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