Each year, the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii celebrates members who inspire others through their leadership, resilience and service to others with its Youth of the Year speech competition. In this last of three installments, we share the story of the top finisher.
As a rule, Auntie Lana Keamo doesn’t put her young charges in situations they can’t handle.
But neither does the director of the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii’s Waianae clubhouse always feel compelled to let her young leaders know what they’re in for.
Case in point: Earlier this month Keamo escorted BGCH Youth of the Year Jeffrey Jones to the downtown studios of Think Tech Hawaii for a chat with CEO Jay Fidel. Only upon arriving at the studio did Jones, a 16-year-old Waianae High School student, learn that the interview was to be streamed live via the Internet.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Jones said afterward. “I was worried that something bad would happen, like I’d fall out of my chair or something.”
Keamo knew that Jones would acquit himself well, but it didn’t keep her from tearing up as she watched, from off camera, as he smoothly fielded questions from Fidel.
“It’s rewarding to see a product of Waianae succeed despite all of the negativity that’s associated with the community,” she said.
The eldest of four siblings, Jones found in BGCH a safe haven from the taunting he sometimes experienced as a big white kid in an environment where such characteristics sometimes draw all the wrong kind of attention. Under the watchful eye of Keamo and her staff, and surrounded by peers who shared a desire to surround themselves with positive influences, Jones thrived.
“It made a big difference going in knowing that you could be yourself and nothing bad was going to happen,” Jones said.
Jones’s maturity and concern for others made him a natural for the club’s Leaders in Training program, through which he has been able to participate in a variety of community service projects.
Jones, who aspires to be a doctor of osteopathy, also participated in the Youth Leader Academy, an interclub organization that provides intensive instruction in speech, essay writing and other fundamental skills.
Jones takes the principles of leadership to heart. When kids drawn to BGCH’s sports programs are in jeopardy of falling short of grade-check standards, Jones sometimes takes it upon himself to meet with their teachers to find out what sort of support the club can offer.
“I just try to be a role model in and out of the club,” Jones said.
Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.
