By Daily Press staff
Jordan Hurd, a seven-year member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, was selected to compete for the title of California Youth of the Year for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Sponsored by Reader’s Digest Foundation and administered by Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the national Youth of the Year program recognizes superior leadership skills, academic achievement, obstacles overcome and outstanding service to Boys & Girls Clubs and the community.
Hurd, along with 12 other Boys & Girls Clubs teens from the Southern California region, competed for three coveted Southern California Youth of the Year spots on March 28 at the Sheraton Delfina Hotel. The youth were judged on oratory skills and personal interviews. Each had been selected by their individual clubs. The regional office received 37 applications from clubs across Southern California. Of those, 13 were selected to compete.
At the club, Hurd participates in all areas of programs and has worked as a junior staff member for almost two years. He has won the AT&T Leadership Award, Male Intermediate Youth of the Year, Leaders in Training Youth of the Year, and multiple Youth of the Month Awards. In 2003, Hurd was hand-picked by club staff to travel to London and Wales on a cultural exchange program through the Spirit of Youth Foundation. Hurd currently holds a 4.0 grade point average and has scored a 1460 on his SATs. Hurd plans to attend SMC and then USC where he wants to study political science. He hopes to inspire future youth by teaching government to high school students and become a politician because he wants to know that he “did something good for the country and the world.”
Hurd will compete for the California state Youth of the Year title on April 19 in Sacramento. Five regional winners selected from among the state winners will compete for the national honor in Washington, D.C., where the president will install the National Youth of the Year officially in a White House ceremony in September.
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Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 31, 2005. Read the original PDF.