RAF Lakenheath student named Youth of the Year

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Connor Estes
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Xavier Thompson, Lakenheath High School junior, was recently named 2012 Boys and Girls Club of America Youth of the Year for European Command.

The award is the highest honor a Boys and Girls Club member can receive and celebrates their service to the club, community and family as well as academic performance, spiritual values, life goals, poise and public speaking.

"We're so excited about this," said Beth Sebok, RAF Lakenheath Youth Center teen coordinator. "Very rarely do we have a military youth win at the national level and to have someone here at Lakenheath represent us is awesome."

For being named the 2012 EUCOM Youth of the Year, Thompson was awarded a trip to the Boys and Girls Club conference in San Diego, California to speak in front of the club's Board of Governors. Thompson was the first military dependent to be invited to speak on behalf of military teens.

"I spoke about military youth stationed overseas in the Boys and Girls Club," said Thompson. "A lot of people have no idea what it's like to be a child in the military. I told them about the massive amount of moving military children face; how we lose friends, make new ones, family deployments and starting over at a new location."

Thompson said the Board of Governors want to change the Youth of the Year competition to include a separate program just for military youth and wanted to know more about what it is like to be in the military and what they could do to improve on the new program.

"I wanted to let them know how much the club has helped me be resilient to moving and dealing with family separation," said Thompson. "The club offers support when your parents are away on deployments and a great place to go and meet other kids going through the same thing."

As a member of Boys and Girls Club since the age of 5, Thompson has a long record of service and accomplishments.

He has played a leadership role for key on-base teen programs such as Keystone Club and Air Force Teen Council, has 82 hours of volunteer service with the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and serves as the junior class president.

Additionally, he has received multiple science and math awards, is the captain of the varsity football squad and participates in basketball, wrestling, track and field.

Thompson is currently in the process of applying for the 2012 Research Science Institute course held on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His personal goal is to become a theoretical physicist.

For those who aspire to be the next military Youth of the Year, Thompson offers these tips.

"I would tell them that if they're interested in the Youth of Year, first they have to understand it's not just an award, it's a higher calling to be a role model and to give back to the community," said Thompson. "Do a lot of diverse community service and really get involved in the club and other organizations."

While Thompson considers winning the award a great honor, for him it's a greater honor to represent RAF Lakenheath and his local community.

"Yes, I do represent all of Europe, but for me it's more of a local thing," he said. "Not all of Europe is going to see me when I walk to school every day. I need to take care of my community first because it has taken care of me and that's what matters to me the most."

Thompson will travel to New York City to contend at the Northeast Regional BGCA Youth of the Year Competition in July.