The Watertown Boys & Girls Club recently celebrated the achievements of several club members and awarded the 2025 Youth of the Year. Also, for the first time the club presented a scholarship award for the club’s aquatics program named for a former Youth of the Year winner who passed away last year. See more details in the announcement from the Watertown Boys & Girls Club.
Watertown Boys & Girls Club hosted its annual “Rising Stars” Youth of the Year celebration on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, recognizing the outstanding achievements and leadership of some of its youth members. Families, community leaders, board members, and supporters gathered in the clubhouse gymnasium for an inspiring ceremony to celebrate the positive impact these young change makers have made within their Club and community over the past year.
Refreshments for the event were sponsored by Condesa Mexican Restaurant (Arsenal Yards) and Bar ‘Cino Watertown, with centerpieces provided by Cass School of Floral Design (Mt. Auburn Street).
The evening opened with WBGC swim team head coach Erin Hickey introducing the first-ever “WBGC Niamh Murphy Memorial Scholarship Award,” established in memory of beloved club member and 2019 WBGC Youth of the Year winner, Niamh Murphy, who tragically passed away in April 2024. Honoring Niamh’s commitment to supporting access to aquatics programs for all youth, this annual scholarship award will be presented to a member of the WBGC Wavemakers swim team in support of their participation in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Finals swim meet in St. Petersburg, FL in April.
The inaugural award was presented to Anderson Kim (11), who received his prize from Niamh’s sister, Olivia Murphy, representing the Murphy family who were in attendance. As a further tribute to Niamh’s legacy, WBGC Aquatics Director, Alec Holland also announced that future financial assistance provided by the Club for swim lesson programs would be named in Niamh’s memory.
Club Director, Anthony Parker then introduced this year’s 2025 Youth of the Year candidates who were: Marissa Cabral, Chloe Ho, Jenna Houjazy, Valentina Quiroa de Faria, Yazmin Ramirez Arias, and Priscilla Samakwrong. A distinguished panel of judges – Stephanie Venizelos (Watertown Community Wellness Director), Carey Conkey-Finn (Watertown Free Public Library Teen Services), and Jaqueline Sullivan (Executive Director, Watertown Housing Authority) – had the unenviable task of selecting a winner from this talented group based on each one’s prepared essay (“What Matters To Me”), a short speech, and an interactive Q&A session with the judges.
In the end, it was Watertown High School senior, Jenna Houjazy who took the title of “WBGC 2025 Youth of the Year.” Jenna will now go on to represent Watertown Boys & Girls Club in the Massachusetts Youth of the Year competition at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on May 13, 2025. In recognition of their achievements, all candidates were presented with a scholarship prize in support of their academic and personal development.
“The Rising Stars celebration is a testament to the incredible impact our Club makes on youth & teens in our community, and the amazing work our staff does every single day” said Gary Beatty, Executive Director at Watertown Boys & Girls Club. “Each of our members recognized tonight represent the very best of what Watertown Boys & Girls Club stands for: character, leadership, service, and community. We are incredibly proud of all of them, and we can’t wait to see what they will achieve next!”
Watertown Boys & Girls Club is the largest youth-serving non-profit organization in Watertown. To learn more about the Club’s year-round programs and support its mission, please visit www.watertownbgc.org or contact Executive Director, Gary Beatty at 617-926-0968.