Courtesy Photo Savannah Thomson is the Exchange Club of Alpena Youth of the Year.

The Exchange Club of Alpena is proud to name Savannah Thomson, a graduate of Alpena High School, as the Stanley C. Beck Youth of the Year.

The annual award is in honor of Beck, a former Alpena educator and Exchange Club of Alpena member, who started the program in the 1970s. To be considered for the $1,000 scholarship, applicants, who are 12th grade students at Alpena High School, must show a strong sense of volunteering, leadership and patriotism over the course of their high school years. In addition to these attributes, grades, extra-curricular activities and a written essay is considered. This year’s essay theme is “How I am a catalyst in my community?”

Thomson’s essay highlighted her strong belief in giving back and finding ways to support others. While at Alpena High School she was part of the Underwater Robotics team that ranked second in the nation. In addition, Thomson was a member of the track and field team, a DARE Role Model, member of the Senior Planning Team, AHS Yearbook business manager and senior editor, and member of the Honor Society. She is also a very active volunteer with her church, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Thunder Bay Basketball Association, 4-H and a local dance studio.

The Exchange Club of Alpena has distributed thousands of scholarships through the Stanley C. Beck Youth of the Year, A.C.E. (Accepting the Challenge of Excellence), and the Rogers C. Brilinski scholarship at Alpena Community College.

The National Exchange Club is a group of men and women who look to make America a better place to live through national service projects, prevention of child abuse and awareness, and numerous other local community service projects.

The Exchange Club of Alpena meets at the 19th Hole Restaurant at 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday.