Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula First Youth of the Year Semi-Final

The first of two Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP) semi-final events to determine a Youth of the Year candidate saw Middle College student Johanna Castillo selected as the representative from the Redwood City Clubhouse, the evening of January 16, 2024.

The first of the five candidates to deliver a presentation, Castillo spoke brilliantly of becoming herself under the wings of her BGCP mentors. "Who cares if I'm weird?" Castillo asked rhetorically...and then she broke into song for a few lines of "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. On a more serious note, Castillo explained how BGCP was helping her along her chosen path to eventually become a doctor.

Other candidates included:

• Alitssa Espinal, also a Middle College student, who recounted with great emotional impact her depression during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, how she recovered, and her service with BGCP's Keystone Leadership program.
• Sarahi Perez of Sequoia High School addressed overcoming imposter syndrome, becoming an "upstander" in defense of bullying victims, and expecting people to "see me for who I am and not who you expect me to be."
• Nicole Calderon, another Middle College student, who became BGCP's first teen staff member of the mental health department and launched several peer-to-peer mental health initiatives along with adult staff.
• Makasini Broussard of Sequoia High School, who called himself an "embodiment of personal transformation" and shared his experience of rebounding from his mother's deportation, his suffering from racial trauma, and his juvenile detention to become a leader in the Redwood City Clubhouse.

Additional features of the event, attended by several hundred friends and family, as well as BGCP supporters, included:

• Presentations from selection panelists Becky Kleiner, Jeff Gee, AJ Tarpley, Amy Underwood, Captain Fox, and Daniel Fells.
• Insights from BGCP CEO Jenny Obiaya about the importance of the event and the impact felt -- and exerted by -- the Youth of the Year candidates.
• A performance by guitar quartet Los de Cali at "halftime" as selection panelists deliberated and another performance by vocalist Esther Vono just before the announcement of Castillo as the clubhouse semi-finalist.
• Many warm feelings among all who attended before they walked out into the cool evening mist.