Youth of the Year uses after-school hours to help kids at Boys & Girls Club

Zion Mann, 18, couldn't be happier. School is going well — he holds a 3.2 grade-point average — and his roller coaster of a life has settled down. The money he earns helps his family, and in January, he was named Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada.

He is a senior at Durango High School, 7100 W. Dewey Drive. His school day starts at 7 a.m., and his last class ends at 1:15 p.m. After school, he makes his way to Lied Memorial Boys & Girls Club, 2850 Lindell Road, where he works as a program aide from 2 to 7 p.m. five days a week.

On weekends, he may volunteer at a homeless shelter, help paint a mural over local graffiti, join a Southern Nevada Officials Association crew of football officials who referee local high school football games or simply page through his seven albums of football cards.

For Mann, the Lied Club has been an important part of his life. When his family moved to Las Vegas 15 years ago, he joined the club and spent after-school hours there for the next five years. His family had some difficult times, moving to Arizona and then to Canada, but through the moves, the club was never forgotten, he said, as it represented the solid foundation and loving environment he missed with his family's ups and downs.

When his mother, Kelly, decided to move the family back to the U.S. from Canada two years ago, she said she chose to come to Las Vegas because she, too, remembered the Lied Club and knew it would be a good environment for her three children. He has a sister, Zardee, 12, and a brother, Zavier, 9.

"Yes, Mom really liked the 'Z' names," Zion said with a smile.

Mark Jacoby, area director of Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada, met Zion a year ago when a new sports program was being reintroduced at the club. Zion volunteered to help and kept volunteering during the club's busy summer season.

"Zion would do any job that needed to be done, even if it meant emptying the trash," Jacoby said. "He was a great help and eager to learn, so I became a sort of mentor to him."

Zion's helpful attitude was noticed by the entire Lied staff, and when the club had an opening for a program aide, he was a natural choice. He started that job in September.

The staff also recommended him as the club's candidate for Youth of the Year, its highest honor, recognizing extraordinary youths ages 14 to 18. In January, Zion competed against 13 other Southern Nevada candidates. Part of the competition involved a short talk before five judges.

"I had never given a speech before, and for some reason, the day of the competition, I wasn't nervous at all," he said. "However, halfway through my talk, my knees began to shake. I had to pause to compose myself so I could go on."

He won that first competition, earning a $1,000 scholarship. Zion plans to apply for additional Boys & Girls Clubs scholarships so that he can enter UNLV and begin studies that he hopes, ultimately, will result in training to become a chiropractor.

Every day at the beginning of his shift at the Lied Club, Zion goes to Wynn Elementary School, 5655 Edna Ave., and meets a group of children who are coming to Lied after school. He walks them to the club, sees that each child is "scanned in" and then takes half the group to the cafeteria for an after-school snack or to a room for a "power hour" of reading or homework.

Following study and snack time, he will assists with the club's social recreation activities. Zion said he particularly likes working with 5- and 6-year-olds "because they listen."

He may be a leader at the club, but he knows he's also a role model at home.

"My mother is the rock of our family," he said, "but my brother, in particular, likes to do everything I do, so I know I've got to set a good example."

Zion himself looks to Jacoby as a friend and mentor — a man who can be a confidence-builder, a teacher or even a truth-teller when the need arises.

"Make no mistake," said Jacoby, "this is one impressive young man. His club and his family can be very proud of him."

For more information on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada, visit bgcsnv.org.

Editor's note: During a statewide gathering Feb. 17 at Planet Hollywood Resort, Boys & Girls Clubs selected Autumn Cuellar from the state Youth of the Year finalists to represent Nevada for the national Youth of the Year program. Jacoby told View, "He did a real good job, and we are very proud of him. Now he will do some speaking at our annual Sneaker Ball Auction fundraiser and concentrate on graduating high cchool."