Central senior is organizational Youth of the Year

TOLEDO – Ashley Cutcher, a Central Catholic High School senior, is Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo’s 2023 Organizational Youth of the Year. 

Youth of the Year is Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s signature leadership award. The honor began in 1947 and includes local, state, regional and national competitions.

Cutcher is an eight-year Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo member. She first attended the East Club when it opened at East Broadway Elementary and as a high schooler was hired as a TEC Teen junior staff member at the David Werhmeister Club at Sherman Elementary.

As a TEC Teen, Cutcher assists adult staff with implementing Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo programs and engages with young members as a mentor. 

“The Boys & Girls Club has been a safe space for me to be myself, express myself and be vulnerable,” Cutcher said.

Selected from three local finalists, Cutcher will compete for Ohio Youth of the Year recognition in April.

“Ashley is a person who is happy not because everything is right in life; she is happy because her attitude toward everything in her life is right,” said Jim Ravas, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo.

Gerri Peters, director of programming for Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo, said Cutcher exemplifies the organization’s pillars for success: academic success, leadership and good citizenship and is an example of making positive life choices.

“Ashley has a bright and sunny disposition,” Peters said. “I have never been at the Club when she was not engaging with me and with the members. Ashely represents what we are looking for in a TEC Teen and exemplifies what Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo wants as its Youth of the Year.”

Cutcher carries a 4.1 GPA at Central and is a member of the school orchestra. She plans to attend the University of Toledo. She aspires to a career in physical therapy.

“We at Central Catholic are so proud of our senior, Ashley Cutcher, for winning the Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo Youth of the Year award,” said Morgan Delp, principal at Central Catholic High School. “This is a tremendous honor that reflects Ashley's hard work, perseverance and leadership both at the club and at CCHS. We know that Ashley's kindness, tenacity and drive for success will continue to fuel her accomplishments well into the future, and we wish her all the best at the next level.”