Military Child of the Year® 2022 Finalists
Operation Homefront is excited to announce the 2022 Military Child of the Year® Awards finalists. 35 Military Branch Award and 5 Innovation Award finalists have been chosen.
Military Child of the Year® Awards finalists
U.S. Space Force Finalists
Kadence Atwood, 15, Colorado Springs, CO
Grant Benson, 18, Burke, VA
Brandon Kim, 13, Cerritos, CA
Olivia Kim, 15, Cerritos, CA
Ava Pogue, 17, Colorado Springs, CO
U.S. Navy Finalists
Symone Atienza, 17, APO AE
Emily Lundgren, 17, Chula Vista, CA
Mitchell Matella, 16, Rockville, MD
Victoria Novak, 17, Mechanicsville, VA
Alexander Parks, 15, St. Marys, GA
National Guard Finalists
Lorraine Glew, 14, Oelwein, IA
Colin Lalgee, 16, Jacksonville, FL
BraeLee Morris, 17, Deatsville, AL
Andrew Stone, 15, Nelsonville, OH
Shane Yaffe Ruebeck, 16, Baltimore, MD
U.S. Marine Corps Finalists
Madelyn Coble, 17, Trent Woods, NC
Naomi Gordon, 16, Sneads Ferry, NC
Sophia Jordan, 13, Fort Worth, TX
Connor Nicol, 13, Carthage, NC
Iain Nicol, 15, Carthage, NC
U.S. Coast Guard Finalists
Kathryn Alonso, 17, Vienna, VA
Courtney Barnard, 18, Hubert, NC
Ava Cooper, 16, Port Jefferson, NY
Jessie Dlabaj, 17, Vineyard Haven, MA
Jonathan Shuster, 18, Saint Johns, FL
U.S. Air Force Finalists
Corinne Alonzo, 17, Springfield, VA
Lana Clayton, 15, Scott AFB, IL
Brianna Cooley, 16, Bossier City, LA
Anna Cummins, 16, Colorado Springs, CO
Alexis Poisson, 15, Merrimack, NHd
U.S Army Finalists
Elena Ashburn, 18, Pembroke Pines, FL
Mandarava Jamyangling-Kawaguchi, 16, Boulder, CO
Leonid Nevezhin, 16, Bronxville, NY
Levid Rodriguez, 18, Paintsville, KY
FredreOni Terrado, 17, Elizabethtown, KY
Military Child of the Year® Award for Innovation Finalists
Kelsey, Johnston, 18, Prince George, VA; U.S. Army
David Lee, 18, APO AP; U.S. Air Force
Keyon Minott, 17, Williamsburg, VA; U.S. Army
Connor Nicol, 13, Carthage, NC; U.S. Marine Corps *Connor Nicol is also a finalist for the Military Child of the Year, U.S. Marine Corps.
Jonathan Shuster, 18, St. Johns, FL; U.S. Coast Guard *Jonathan Shuster is also a finalist for the Military Child of the Year, U.S. Coast Guard.
The forty finalists were selected by a panel of judges chosen by Operation Homefront’s senior leadership. The final eight award recipients will be announced in March.
Seven Military Child of the Year® Award recipients will represent each branch of the armed forces — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Space Force — for their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and other criteria while facing the challenges of military family life.
The eighth award is the Military Child of the Year®’s Award for Innovation presented by Booz Allen Hamilton. This award goes to a military child who has designed a bold and creative solution to address a local, regional, or global challenge.
The final eight award recipients will be announced in March. Each recipient will receive $10,000, a laptop, and other donated gifts. A celebration program is currently scheduled for April 7, 2022; details regarding the celebrations will be released in March.
