Boys & Girls Club of Alpena Names 2023 Youth of the Year

The Boys and Girls Club’s Youth of the Year is the highest honor a member of the club can receive, getting a chance to represent their club as a future leader and share their story.

For the second year in a row, Skyler Wininger is the boys and girls club of Alpena’s representative. What’s different this year, however, is he’ll get the opportunity to go to Lansing to share his story.

“This year, being able to go in person, do activities with other kids, and be able to get the true Youth of the Year experience is really exciting for me,” he said.

Wininger will present a speech to judges about what brought him to the Boys and Girls Club, and what makes him such a great leader.

“My father wasn’t the best person; and it’s been like that for our entire family line, so I’m trying to change that and be a better person, not only for the people in my community, but also my family to help try to turn things around,” he said.

Wininger has been with the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena for nearly a decade, and has shown exemplary character each and every day.

“I feel that he will represent our club well, and he really gets to share his story and that’s really important to us to promote them to be a voice and an advocate for themselves and others who have experienced similar things,” said Catherine Knoch, Director of Operations at the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena.

Getting to meet with other Youth of the Year representatives in Lansing and learning more about them is something Wininger is looking forward to.

“Other life experiences that they have, because everybody has their own life experiences and sharing those with others is really beneficial, which is why I like to try to share my personal experiences,” he said.

Wininger will head down to Lansing next week Tuesday for the event that runs through Thursday.