Young Man / Young Woman of the Year Award Guidelines

Guidelines for the Submission of Outstanding Young Man / Young Woman of the Year Nominations

The purpose of the Young Man and Young Woman of the Year Awards is to recognize the excellence of the young men and women of our communities, and to promote the recognition of their contributions within their community and the Jurisdiction of Virginia.

Any young man or woman who is currently in High School, grades 9-12, and residing within the general community jurisdiction of the nominating Council will be considered for the award. The Young Man and Young Woman of the Year Awards are electives towards the State Deputy Award.

All nominations are to be submitted to the State General Program Director (programsdirector@vakofc.org ) no later than March 15, 2026.

Nomination Sources

Suggested sources are via solicitation of nominees from:

Council membership
Priests, Ministers, Rabbis, and other Religious
Public and/or private schools and their support organizations
Your entire community

Selection by the Council

The methods that local Councils utilize to select their Outstanding Young Man/Woman of the Year (their State Nominee) are at the discretion of each participating council. Factors to consider include:

Outstanding contribution(s) made by the nominee.
Academic excellence.
Involvement in civic, religious, and/or school-related programs.
Participation in extracurricular activities.
Special achievements – Any awards/recognition received.
Participation with his/her family in performing any of the above.

Helpful Hints

The following steps are provided to assist you in preparing and submitting your Council’s nominations for grading at the state level.

Begin by making a list of your nominee’s contributions, accomplishments, involvement, participation, awards/recognition, achievements, and categorize those lists by item number and name. Include everything that you can under each item. Simply state the individual’s academic achievement.
When satisfied that you have listed and categorized all your nominees’ contributions, make a draft of each entry, and make it as readable as possible by:
- Listing the contributions under each item or subtopic.
- Presenting the contributions under each item, using the space provided, use short, concise statements. Shorter is better in this instance. Long-winded, complex, and/or rambling sentences tend to confuse the reader (scorer). The reader will score the entry on substance, not writing skill.
When referring to the nominee, use terms such as “our nominee,” “this nominee,” or “our council.” Use your imagination to come up with “generic” terms.
Please use the Young Man/Young Woman Form from the Virginia State Website

What NOT To Do

Do not refer to the nominee by name.
Do not refer to your Council name or number.
Do not use the nominee’s parents, school, city, town, or county name.
Do not use the nominee’s pastor, church, congregation, or any name that would identify or indicate who the nominee is or where they live.
Do not use your own format. Use the form from the Virginia State Website. If you use another format or forms your submission may be disqualified.
Once you have made a statement or listed an accomplishment about the nominee, do not repeat the same information in another category