Favorite Sons & Daughters

View welcomes announcements of recent achievements of Favorite Sons & Daughters who have graduated from local high schools. Achievements may run the gamut from earning a college degree to successfully climbing Mount Everest. Please include the name of the area high school and year graduated. Send announcements and photos by mail to: Melissa Martin, View, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125-0070; by fax to 477-3852; or by e-mail, referencing Favorite in the subject line, to mmartin@viewnews.com.

Sabrina Bell, Chaparral High School senior, was featured in the Centennial View, Feb. 25, for being named the 2004 Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas, where she has been a member for the past nine years at the North Las Vegas Unit. For these accomplishments and more, she has been named the 2004 Youth of the Year for the state of Nevada by Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

The Youth of the Year program, now in its 57th year, is sponsored by the Reader's Digest Association Inc. The program recognizes outstanding contributions to a member's family, school, community and Boys & Girls Club, as well as personal challenges and obstacles overcome. Seven members of Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Nevada competed for the 2004 honor, but it was Bell who outshined and walked away with the title.

Bell knows what it is like to face difficult challenges and dismal situations in often impoverished conditions. The Boys & Girls Club is where Bell found support and comfort that ultimately helped her form goals and dream of a better life. When asked what the Boys & Girls Club means to her, she said it means everything -- family, love and life support.

Beside her school obligations, Bell has been active in all aspects of the club and her community. She is the vice president of the Keystone Club, a small group focusing on teen leadership and community service. She has worked with Habitat for Humanity, food and clothing drives, and community cleanups. In the Leaders in Training program, she helped run tournaments and events for younger members. Other community service activities have included Kids Helping Kids and Community of Organized Leaders, where she painted houses and fences for the elderly.

Bell is a member of the youth group at the South Valley Christian Center and also attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Program. She will go on to compete for the title of Pacific Youth of the Year, which involves the winners from the states located in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Pacific Region. If named regional winner, she would advance to the national competition with a chance to win a $10,000 college scholarship.


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