Durant High School student Avery Cochran was recently named the Youth of the Year for the Boys & Girls Club of Red River Valley Oklahoma.
Cochran, who will be a junior for the 2024-2025 school year, is a part of the Durant location.
Tami Ghadianloo, Boys & Girls Club Red River Valley unit director, said that during the Crystal Ball on March 9, Cochran competed with another youth from Ardmore and there was a competition for the judges.
“Avery won our Youth of the Year for Red River Valley, so of the 14 sites, Avery was our pick,” Ghadianloo said. “Avery then went to state and she competed. “This was for the entire state of Oklahoma and she became our runner up.” Cochran received a $1,500 scholarship from the state competition and a $1,000 scholarship for the competition at Crystal Ball.
To be eligible for Youth of the Year, a student must have attended the Boys & Girls Club for a long time and Cochran has been attending for nine years.
“You have to have a good personality and you have to be kind and responsible in helping others,” Cochran said. “You have to go through procedures such as writing three essays, writing a resume, writing a cover letter and writing a speech.
“I presented my speech here at the local library in Durant for three judges and I took interviews and then the next day, we had a Crystal Ball and I presented my speech for about 300 people and I ended up winning. So, I went to state and while at state, the Youth of the Year lets us do many things. We got to go to the Oklahoma State Capitol and talked to senators. We got to be at the governor’s mansion, so that was really really fun.”
Cochran is part of the club’s junior staff that helps with the concession stand and club events. She helps with the Torch Club which is an outreach community program to raise money to help other members in the club or veterans, first responders and others.
