Spotlight on Clarisa A. with Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley: A Teen Member with Big Goals

From Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley:

Clarisa A. comes from a long line of lifetime Club members. Her oldest brother attended for 13 years, her second oldest brother is in his 13th year, she herself is on year eight, and her youngest brother began coming last year when he turned five.

It doesn’t get any more Club family than that.

But Clarisa doesn’t just attend. She takes her Club experience to the highest level. A seventh grader at Yerington Intermediate School, she participates in every program offered, played in the Club’s basketball league until she aged out, was a Torch Club member and is a current Keystone Club member. As involved as she is, it’s no surprise that Clarisa was named the 2021 Member of the Year. Three short years later? She’s our current Junior Youth of the Year, an honor she won the same evening her older brother, Michael, was named the 2024 Youth of the Year for Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley.

“The Club is just such a fun place to be,” Clarisa said. “I love the staff, I love the gym and I love the people here that I get to spend the day with.”

Clarisa has plenty of friends that come to the Club, and she always does a great job of recruiting new members from school over to The Club Teen Center. She knows that, even though she may not be super close with all the members, everyone is supportive and will always have her back.

As a Torch and Keystone Club member, she’s helped bus tables at banquets, done bake sales to fundraise, gone to the local long term care to read to residents, helped in the kitchen and cleaning up Night in the Country, and runs the Be Bucks store for members.

“The Club is great because I get to learn new skills and be a leader.”

One of Clarisa’s favorite moments as a Club member came last summer when her and the Keystone Club took a weekend trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain to celebrate their hard work and to end the summer together. While down there, they met up with another Keystone Club from Boys & Girls Clubs of Stanton. The groups hung out on the beach, made s’mores and got to swap projects and ideas with each other.

“She’s just one of those really special members,” Kaydence Hernandez, one of the Yerington clubhouse’s staff, said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say no to someone who needs something. She’s the kind of member we want here.”

Even though she’s already accomplished so much, she’s nowhere near done. Her biggest goal before she leaves the Club in a few more short years is being named Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley’s Youth of the Year, just like her brother.

“I really look up to Michael,” she said. “And my whole family. They inspire me to be a good leader.”

When not at the Club, Clarisa has been on student council, is a 4.0 student, competes in swim team every summer, plays soccer in the fall and does track in the spring. This year, she helped lead her YIS basketball and volleyball teams to Sagebrush League Championships. Most importantly, she wants to leave behind a legacy of being kind, always including people in things and just being a good person.

“I want me to be proud of me.”