Boys & Girls Club Blog

The Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh is pleased to announce the 2019 Youth of the Year winner – Myrya Mueller. Each year a local Youth of the Year committee interviews a number of high school students at the Club. They are judged on their service to their Club, community, and family, academic success, strong moral character, life goals, and poise and public speaking ability. The teen who scores highest in these areas is chosen as the Youth of the Year winner for the organization.

In December 2018, Myrya competed against three other local Club members for the title and ultimately won. As the Oshkosh Club’s 2019 Youth of the Year, Myrya was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Boys & Girls Club’s Charles F. Hyde, Jr. Youth of the Year Scholarship Endowment.

From here, Youth of the Year winners from local Boys & Girls Clubs across the state will travel to Madison to compete for the state title in March. Myrya will compete against more than ten other Club members for the title of Wisconsin State Youth of the Year. If she wins the state title, Myrya would also receive a $5,000 scholarship from BGCA and Disney and a $1,500 scholarship from the Boys & Girls Clubs Wisconsin Area Council.

Myrya is a senior at Oshkosh North High School and plans to pursue higher education at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton to prepare for a career in nursing. “I could never figure out what I wanted to do for my future career but the staff went out of their way and helped me find a career and turned out to be nursing.” Myrya explained. “I am so happy that I could count on the staff to help me and give me encouragement.”

She has been a member of the Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh for over eleven years. “The Boys & Girls Club has done so much for me in the past eleven years.” Myrya explained. “I have been involved with so much, from field trips, volunteer work, the Keystone Leadership Club and the Mentoring Program, to getting involved with tutoring, helping with service projects and so much more.”

Myrya has also given back to her community through her involvement with the Club. For one of her Keystone projects, she took a leadership role in helping coordinate a special evening that fostered positive communication between teens and the Oshkosh Police Department which included a dinner, a panel discussion and an obstacle course with teens and officers. This past summer, Myrya also worked as a volunteer distributing food at a Feed America food drive that was held at the Club.

In Myrya’s own words, “The Boys & Girls Club is one of the biggest things in my life that helped change my family around. Without my Club I would not be where I am in life right now. When I look into my future I can’t wait to experience it. I know the Club has changed me into a person I thought I would never be able to achieve. The Club is my second family and means everything to me.”

“I have watched this young lady grow up over the years despite the obstacles and family challenges she has had to deal with and observed her confidence grow as she took advantage of the opportunities the Club gave her, “added CEO, Marc Dosogne. “Today, she is a bright young leader, makes good choices for herself and helps her family, her school, her church and her community. She is a bright part of America’s future and a great example of how the Boy & Girls Club of Oshkosh takes the resources that you give us and uses them to open doors for young people who need them.”

Please join the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oshkosh in congratulating Myrya in all of her accomplishments and Youth of the Year title.

Thank you to the 2019 Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh Youth of the Year Judging Committee:

Darrin Kuehn (BGCO Board Member, Festival Foods), Jodie Larsen (Oshkosh Corporation), Cathy Luther (Kuenzl Foundation Trustee), Patti Shea (Shea Electric), Heidi Strand (Blue Door Consulting) and Peg Wachtel (Committee Chair).