PORTAGE | Amanda Sulski has parlayed her rapport with children into a job with the Dusty Rhode Portage Boys & Girls Club.

A seven-year member of the club, the 18-year-old Sulski recently took a job there. She also was named the Portage club's Youth of the Club and went on to be selected as the Porter County Boys & Girls Club's Youth of the Year.

She will represent the organization and compete for the title of Indiana Youth of the Year this spring where she could be awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the Reader's Digest Foundation, sponsor of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Youth of the Year program.

"She's one of those kids who has never taken the Boys & Girls Club for granted," said Andy Davis, program director of the Portage club. "She always has wanted to give back."

She has given back in a variety of ways since she joined the Boys & Girls Club.

Sulski has participated in the Smart Girls program, Afternoons Rock in Indiana, various athletic leagues and has been a tutor in the Link & Learn program helping younger members with their homework.

"To me, the club has been more than just a place to come and hang out," she said. "It is a second home."

She has been a member of the Keystone teen leadership club and led the "Love Luggage" service project in which members decorated suitcases to be given to foster children to transport their belongings. She participated with her church youth group in a mission trip to Florida and is also a peer tutor to the members of the special education program at Portage High School.

She plans to study occupational therapy next fall at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.

"She just has a very big heart," Davis said. "She's really excellent with the kids."

If she wins at the state level, Sulski will compete for the Midwest Region Youth of the Year and an additional $10,000 scholarship. The five regional winners will advance to Washington D.C. to compete for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Youth of the Year title. The National Youth of the Year receives an additional $15,000 scholarship and is installed by the president in an Oval Office ceremony.