By Randy Wyrick — AVON — Sure, how you feel might matter, but what you do matters more.
Twenty years ago, YouthPower365 started as the vision of a few local men and women who wanted to close the education gap in our community and support the efforts of the local school system in making sure everyone in our valley had a fair shot at a quality education.
The beginnings were humble enough, as The Youth Foundation. Some of those early board members saw local kids playing soccer in the street, kicking the ball back and forth across U.S. Highway 6 in Edwards, or in the Edwards rest stop, using tractor-trailer rigs as something like movable sidelines.
Academic soccer followed, as did untold numbers of other programs. In 2012, The Youth Foundation merged with the Vail Valley Foundation and became YouthPower365, with an academic focus. The goal is to make sure every kid who enters its programs graduates high school on time and ready for a career or college.
“If we can inspire kids to stay in school, they’ll do better and we’ll all be in a better place,” said Melisa Rewold-Thuon, executive director of YouthPower365.