Local Youth in 2017 Operation Homefront Military Child of the Year® Semifinals

Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit serving America’s military families, has narrowed nearly 400 nominees for the 2017 Military Child of the Year® Awards to 90 semifinalists nationwide.  Additionally, 20 semifinalists have been chosen out of 40 nominees for the 2017 Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation presented by Booz Allen Hamilton.  Tyler Evans, 14, Maple Valley, Wash., is a semifinalist for the Coast Guard award.

Six Military Child of the Year® Award winners in the ages 8 to 18 range, representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard, will receive $10,000 each.  They will be selected based on their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, and extracurricular involvement.

The seventh award, which is open to young people ages 13 to 18, is the Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation presented by Booz Allen Hamilton.  The winner of this award shows the power of innovative thinking.  Examples include a new invention, improvement to existing technology, or creation of a new nonprofit.  The Innovation award recipient will earn $10,000 and a mentorship by Booz Allen Hamilton employees to scale or to advance the winner’s project.

Each Military Child of the Year® Award semifinalist will be interviewed by a panel selected by Operation Homefront staff.  Award recipients will be chosen by a panel of judges, to include senior retired service members, senior spouses, members of Operation Homefront’s board of directors, and other leaders in the military support community.  Booz Allen Hamilton will judge competitors for the Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation.

Every winner will be flown to Washington along with a parent or guardian to receive the award from high-ranking military leaders.

More information about the Military Child of the Year® Awards is available at www.militarychildoftheyear.org.