One of the reasons I like working for Reader's Digest is that each year I get to meet a handful of teenagers like Shonnetta Henry.

Today, Shonnetta became the Youth of the Year, an annual honor given by the Boys and Girls Club of America. The Club selected five regional Youths of the Year, truly amazing teenagers who, despite huge odds stacked against them, not only thrive academically and socially but have given so much back to their communities. The Northeast region chose Naquasia Pinchback of Glen Cove, New York. The Midwest club selected Jamaal Phillips from St. Louis. Ashley Turner of Portland, Oregon, represented the Pacific region and Felicia Arriaga of Dana, North Carolina, was the Southeast choice. The finalist were flown to Washington, given the full VIP treatment including a private audience with the President of the United States, and awarded a scholarship. The Reader's Digest Foundation has sponsored this program for the past 62 years, the award is announced in Washington, and as a reporter in the DC office, that is how I was fortunate enough to be there. My boss, Carl Cannon, helped select the winner and got to know each candidate pretty well in the intense interview process. He lamented their only had to be a single winner, because all of them were stellar. All "gave me hope for the future," he told me.

(Courtesy Boys and Girls Club)

I don't use "truly amazing" lightly. To say 18-year-old Shonnetta Henry's life hasn't been an easy one is one giant understatement. Shonnetta grew up in poverty. Because of her circumstances, Shonnetta often felt alone and unsupported, but didn't want her younger sister and two brothers to suffer like she had. She became "the mother of children I did not conceive," as she explains. "I have to guide my siblings to a better way of life." She did so by example.

She took Advanced Placement classes, though couldn't afford tutors and study aids like the rest of her peers, and excelled at them. Her list of extra-cirricular activities would have exhausted most: She mentored incoming freshman. She worked to keep students out of the justice system and fought against immigrant bashing. She helped other kids find their voice through a creative writing club called Ink About It, where members write and share their poetry.  She hosted open mic nights and poetry writing sessions for a dance and poetry club. Shonetta also wrote her own poems, the expression important for her survival.

Shonnetta went to work for the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver, where she helped run the center so she could pay for bus fare, her siblings' sports activities, her textbooks and school fees. The Club became more than a job; it became the embodiment of what she wanted her life to be—a way to help others from descending into a social abyss. She began volunteering more of her time at the Club, tutoring younger children and organizing community service projects. She taught a program called Words Can Heal which emphasizes how words affect all aspects of life and the importance of choosing them carefully. "Needing support was my biggest adversity," Shonnetta says. "It almost destroyed my potential, but today I am thankful that my Club saved me by filling the empty seat in my life."

One of her AP teachers in high school said Shonnetta, "... has had more work and responsibility thrust upon her than many adults...Yet in spite of all that's been demanded of her, [she] seems entirely unbowed by the burdens."

Shonnetta stands in front of the Capitol. (Courtesy Boys and Girls Club)

Along her rough and tumble road,  Shonnetta discovered "creative vents" as alternatives to being angry. Now, when she frustrated or furious, she dances, sings and writes poetry and songs. She's also helped others do the same, observing first-hand how the arts can calm aggressive behaviors. Shonnetta wants to become a child psychologist some day and is now studying for a joint degree in psychology and world dance at the University of New Mexico. Her goal is to explore professionally what she's observed first hand: Art therapy can take the place of medicating children.

I'd only met Shonnetta last night, when the18-year-old read a poem she wrote about her life story to a room full of Washington VIPS, Boys and Girls Club executives and supporters, and even their most famous alum, Denzel Washington. Her words were lyrical, bold, strong. A snippet:

     I devote the duration of my life
     To being that thing that went right
     For the kids who need to be rescued
     Tiny voices that say close to nothing
     Have taught me everything

Shonnetta poses with Denzel Washington. (Courtesy Boys and Girls Club)

We all rose to a standing ovation after the 18-year-old petite Maya Angelou finished.  Today, I was lucky to be sitting at Shonnetta's table at the breakfast when for the Youth of the Year announcement. Each year, it takes place in a grand Capitol Hill auditorium full of members of Congress and a hundred or so Washington notables. Shonnetta didn't eat much. As the time of the announcement edged closer, I could see her fanning herself, fidgeting, perhaps she looking for the door. Then, the envelope was opened and her name was read. Shonnetta nearly collapsed. Her next year will be full of speaking engagements on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club, exciting trips talking to other teenagers (the 2007-2008 Youth, Demetrice Tuttle, just came back from a whirlwind European tour) and meeting countless people who can open doors she never before imagined. I know Shonnetta never expected this while she was busy trying to do what is right—she never expected any of it.

The amazing part of Shonnetta's journey is that not only was she able to break a destructive cycle of poverty, but that she helped others how to do the same with an open and untarnished heart. Perhaps her great-grandmother had something to do with this. When her homelife became unbearable, she, her siblings, and four of her cousins all went to live with her great-grandmother Eunice. She thinks of her Grandma as her "security blanket" and "24-hour on call life coach."  "Grandma gave me tips for life," Shonnetta said in her Youth of the Year speech. "Change starts small and only comes through unconditional love."

Have you met any other examples of people who make our shared space better? Let me know!