JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida recognized three exceptional young leaders during its 2026 Youth of the Year Awards Ceremony on Feb. 6 in Jacksonville. The event honored students chosen from across the organization\u2019s 59 clubs for their resilience, leadership, and community dedication.<\/p>\n
The ceremony marks the initial step in a competition that culminates in a national title. Finalists were selected through a process that required them to write personal essays, participate in panel interviews, and perform public speaking engagements.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n Eleanor T., a student at Roberts Learning, was named the Elementary School Youth of the Year. Tyson J., representing Clanzel T. Brown, received the honor of Middle School Youth of the Year.<\/p>\n Dajdriana B. of Ed White High School was honored as the High School Youth of the Year. Along with the title, she received a $5,000 scholarship to support her future educational goals.<\/p>\n Paul Martinez, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, noted that the ceremony serves to amplify the voices and hard work of the children within the organization. He praised the winners and nominees for their willingness to share their personal stories.\u201cThis event is a testament to the incredible young people we serve every day,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cSeeing their hard work recognized, their voices amplified, and their talents celebrated is what Boys & Girls Clubs is all about. Congratulations to our winners, nominees, and every young person who stepped up to share their story. The future is bright because of them.\u201d<\/p>\n The ceremony drew more than 300 guests who joined 50 nominated club members and teenagers for the celebration. The program was hosted by Nico Flowers, the 2024 National Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and Caleb Riggens.<\/p>\n Brian Sexton, a senior correspondent for the Jacksonville Jaguars, served as the emcee for the evening. Other attendees included 2025 Miss Florida Paris Richardson, who was recognized as the inaugural recipient of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida Alumni Award.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida recognized three exceptional young leaders during its 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[48704,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-152524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-boys-and-girls-clubs-of-northeast-florida","9":"tag-jacksonville","10":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","11":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}