Teen to represent Boys/Girls club in youth of year competition

Published 12:52 pm Monday, March 19, 2012

Domonique Gillette, a six-year member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue, has been selected to represent the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue as the organization’s 2012 Youth of the Year. He will compete in a statewide competition this week, which includes events at Seattle University and the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia.

Domonique joined Boys & Girls Clubs of Bellevue in 5th grade after moving from California. He first attended Project Learn, the club’s after-school program in the Hidden Village Apartment complex. He is now an active member at the club’s Teen Center of Excellence at the Lake Hills Clubhouse on Lake Hills Blvd.

“I began to shape and understand who I was as a person,” Domonique said. “I learned about my core values and what was important to me. I was surrounded by positive role models.”

Domonique serves as a mentor, reading once a week to elementary school students. He is active in the club’s Keystone program, a leadership and community service program, as well as the club’s BE GREAT: graduate program, which supports students as they complete their high school education.

He will graduate from Interlake High School this spring and then plans to join the Marine Corps and to further his education at San Diego State University.