The awards have touched the lives of many students; 2024 application deadline is Sept. 12
The Youth Excellence and Achievement Awards (YEA! Awards) recognize students for making a difference in their community.
Students are honored in three categories: leadership, success despite difficult odds, and volunteer or community service. Middle and high school students are eligible to be nominated.
Established by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners in 2010, the annual awards have touched the lives of students and their families. Nominations are still being accepted until Sept. 12 for this year's YEA! Awards.
Here are a few stories of previous winners that might inspire you to nominate a student:
Jayen Patel
Sixteen-year-old Jayen Patel started volunteering at the Hillsborough Education Foundation in 2022. He learned about their STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) lending library, which helps teachers check out material that can assist in their lesson plans. He contacted them on his own and inquired about volunteering in the STEAM lending library. They liked his idea, and he has already volunteered more than 80 hours.
His volunteerism paid off. He was nominated and received a YEA! Award in 2023. The achievement is special, Patel said.
"I felt that I had been acknowledged and appreciated for my time at the foundation," said Patel, a senior at Hillsborough High School. "It felt great that commissioners and commissioners' offices acknowledged me."
Patel said being nominated and receiving the award filled him with pride and has continued to motivate him. He encourages nominating students for this award.
"For me, it has been a steppingstone to doing more work in the community," Patel said. "It has motivated me to keep at it and give it forward. Being recognized has pushed me to do more."
Brenna McGuire
Brenna McGuire keeps her 2022 YEA! Award for leadership displayed in her room. It means a lot to her to see it.
"It reminds me of all what I have done so far," McGuire said. "It reminds me that I can make a difference and what I do impacts people."
McGuire was nominated by her technology and yearbook teacher at Tinker K-8 at MacDill Air Force Base.
Her teacher saw a natural leader who got involved to assist and help. At the time she was nominated, she was an officer in the Future Business Leaders of America, the managing editor for the Tinker K-8 Yearbook, and team leader in the Anchored 4 Life program, which helps military children with transition and change. McGuire has known change and adapted. As a military child, she has lived in six states and four countries, including Germany, South Korea, and Belgium.
McGuire, who now lives in Annapolis, Md., and is a junior at Annapolis High School, encourages adults to nominate a student they feel deserves a YEA! Award in leadership, success despite difficult odds, or volunteer or community service.
"They should nominate people because it proves to the kids that they are being noticed," McGuire said. "They are being seen by the people around them, and it is making a difference."
Ashton Kitchiner
Ashton Kitchiner was awarded the 2022 YEA! Award for leadership. And he has fulfilled his leadership role.
He turned his passion and love for boating into a career. He started ALK Enterprises in 2018, his freshman year of high school. ALK Enterprises is a small digital marketing, advertisement, and promotion company specializing in boating and boating accessories. Kitchiner promotes the boats and accessories on his Instagram page, which has 245,000 followers.
In addition, Kitchiner graduated from Newsome High School with an associate degree from Hillsborough Community College. In May 2024, he earned a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Florida, and he's now pursuing a master's in construction management.
Being honored with a YEA! Award meant a lot, Kitchiner said. Anyone interested in nominating a student shouldn't hesitate, he said, adding students deserve to be recognized.
"Getting that nomination shows that everything you have been working for gets recognized," Kitchiner said.
Jae'Shaun Santos
Jae'Shaun Santos was awarded the 2022 YEA! Award for success despite difficult odds.
From 2015 to 2022, he attended five schools. But Santos forged ahead and excelled in the classroom, including making the honor roll. This school year he's a freshman at Leto High School in the Collegiate Program.
Santos, who plays Amateur Athletic Union basketball, said the award still means a lot to him.
"It's really a big achievement," Santos said. "A lot of people care about me."
His mother, Penelope Santos, is proud of him and his YEA! Award. It increased his self- esteem and reminded him that others were noticing his achievements.
She encourages others to nominate a student.
"It keeps them wanting to push forward with the good grades and going forward on a positive track," Penelope Santos said.
Nominate a student
Visit HCFL.Gov/YEA to nominate a student. Deadline to nominate a student ends Sept. 12.