RAF LAKENHEATH, England — Lakenheath High School senior Kellie Schreiber’s involvement in the base’s community and the English communities around Lakenheath has gotten her noticed.

Schreiber has been named the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Youth of the Year for activities such as playing a major role in getting a teen center on base, helping to organize a clothing drive for the homeless in Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich and getting involved in her school.

She has also been a member of the school’s cheerleading squad for three years and has led that group for two years. She has used her singing talents to sing the national anthem before sporting events on the base, and to become a member of the traveling singing group The Drifters.

Schreiber, who is the president of the Keystone Club at Lakenheath, said her drive to stay involved in several causes and organizations at one time comes from being active with groups like 4-H since she was 9. She also credited support from her parents, Bruce, a retired civil service employee; mother, Carla; and older brother, Brian.

Although Schreiber was recognized as the youth of the year at Lakenheath last year and she finished among the top in the USAFE Youth of the Year, she called her latest honor a surprise.

"This year I think I had a stronger package because a lot of the stuff I started last year, I just kept going," Schreiber said. "I really wasn’t expecting to receive [Youth of the Year honors] and I was really excited. I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting that. I was like ‘Wow!’ "

Youth of the Year candidates have to submit packages that include handwritten essays about a variety of topics, at least eight recommendations and answer interview questions.

Art Myers, director of Services at the Pentagon, and USAFE’s command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Pamela Derrow, gave Schreiber recommendations, said Gary Vicsik, director of Youth Programs at RAF Lakenheath.

Now that Schreiber is vying for the U.S. European Command’s Youth of the Year against the Navy and Army’s youths of the year winners, she has a chance to win a $10,000 scholarship for college. If she advances beyond that, she could win the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year for a chance to go to the White House, Vicsik said.

"We have never had someone win (EUCOM)," Vicsik said about how previous USAFE winners have fared. "I think [her chances] are very, very good."

Vicsik credited Schreiber’s leadership skills and her stay-on-the-go mentality for earning her Youth of the Year honors. "She never sits idle," Vicsik said.