Churchill Is 'Youth Of The Year'

Caleb Churchill, 18, is the Kosciusko County Boys & Girls Club 2001 Youth of the Year award recipient.

Churchill will compete against other Boys & Girls Club youth for the Indiana State Youth of the Year title. If he wins, he will go on to compete against the other state winners in the Midwest.

Cindi Knepper, director of the Boys & Girls Club, said Thursday, "this year, Caleb Churchill is involved with being Youth of the Year for one thing: he's been a member forever."

He's involved in many of the Club's activities, Knepper said, and "he's a great leader, a good leader. He is positive. He has something many youths of today don't have - integrity. He has a good work ethic."

She said, "The cool thing about Caleb is he's a gentle giant," and he's a kind, exceptional young man who works hard to be a good leader.

"I would say I'm more of a laid-back kind of person," Churchill said when asked to describe himself. "Whatever goes, goes. I like things to be planned." However, he said, when he's with friends, he doesn't always know what he's going to do. "I'm very outgoing. Athletics is a big part of my life."

A senior at Warsaw Community High School, he is the son of James and Laurie Churchill. This year, he was a right tackle on the Warsaw football team and works "every day" at Reneker's Sports Shop, he said Friday.

Today he will be involved for the second year in Science Olympiad at Goshen College.

He is active in the youth group at his church, Foursquare Morning Star Church, Ind. 15, Warsaw.

He has been a member of the Boys & Girls Club for the last 13 years and began going because he lives "right next to it. I used to come home from school, put my bags in there, get something to eat and tell my mom I'm going to the club. I'd be there until seven or eight."

Knepper, he said, is like his second mom and her son, William, is like a brother.

Now that he's older, Churchill goes to the club and plays basketball with the younger kids. He also plays on the club's high school-level basketball team and played on the volleyball team last year.

Upon being told he was the Youth of the Year, he said he was very surprised.

"I wasn't expecting it," he said. "There are kids who had been going there longer than me. It's a great honor."

It will also be an honor he said will look good on his college resume because it will show colleges he has good leadership abilities.

He's looking at attending college at Ball State University or Saint Francis College, where he also hopes to continue his football career. He wants to study communications, but hasn't decided if he wants to pursue a career in radio or television.

"My biggest love is music. I love music," he said. He's trying to learn to play the guitar, though it's not quite working out as he hoped, he said.

Five regional winners selected from among the state winners will compete for the national honor in Washington, D.C., where President George W. Bush will officially install the national Youth of the Year in a White House ceremony in September. The winner also will receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Reader's Digest Association.

Sponsored by the Reader's Digest Association and administered by Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Youth of the Year program recognizes superior leadership skills, academic achievement, obstacles overcome and outstanding service to Boys & Girls Clubs and the community.

The Boys & Girls Club has played a role in Kosciusko County for more than 40 years, providing daily programs and services to more than 1,500 young people. Their mission is "to partner with families and communities to enable young people in Kosciusko County to grow up to be responsible, self-reliant, caring adults."

Churchill said, "I would encourage kids to go there. For me, it's basically like a home. I know I can go there and they're not going to judge you. There are lots of opportunities. It's an outstanding thing that Cindi does."

Boys and girls ages 5 to 18 are eligible for membership in the club; membership is free. The club is open Monday and Tuesdays from 3 to 9:30 p.m. in the Pete Thorn Youth Center. To find out more information about the Club, call 268-1155 or write: Boys & Girls Club of Kosciusko County, 800 N. Park Ave., Warsaw, IN 46580.