She's numero Uno

POST FALLS - Dorit Nowicki-Liss is known around the Boys and Girls Club for her bubbly personality.

But, as those affiliated with the club's Youth of the Year contest learned, the Lake City High School senior isn't afraid to be blatantly honest even if what's on her mind raises eyebrows.

The five contestants, including Nowicki-Liss, were asked to write an essay on their personal brand and she didn't pull any punches while commenting on that topic.

"For starters, I would like to say in the nicest way possible that I did not appreciate this latest essay topic," she wrote. "Branding myself with three adjectives feels as though I'm taking a hot iron and branding a number on my forehead. Brands are meant for cows and cereal boxes, not people.

"This branding business is, in my opinion, moot. I was nominated to this contest because I do good for children."

Nowicki-Liss won the contest and will represent the club at community events and civic group meetings over the next year. She'll also compete in the state Youth of the Year contest Feb. 25-26 in Boise. The nonprofit also holds regional and national contests for which Nowicki-Liss is eligible to qualify.

Essays, interview, speech, letters of recommendation and overall application quality were the categories in the local competition held at the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center in Post Falls. Each category carried the same weight (20 percent).

Nowicki-Liss started volunteering at the club as a freshman. She was hired in August as a staff member and splits her time between the club's Post Falls facility and the Sorensen Elementary site in Coeur d'Alene.

"I never thought I'd be involved in the club for so long, but the friends that I've made and the relationships that I've built have influenced me and will be with me for the rest of my life," she said.

She assists kids with activities and deals with the myriad of situations that arise from having a lot of energetic youths in one location.

"It keeps me on my toes," she said with a smile. "A lot of high-schoolers go to their job just because they have to make money, but I get to come to the club. It's never the same. I never want to be bored, so this is a good job."

Tabitha Kraack, a supervisor at the club, said Nowicki-Liss loves being part of the club, and her attitude and personality are contagious.

"When I interviewed her for the junior staff position, she had a personality that you couldn't help but to love," Kraack said. "I caught myself smiling through the whole interview because of her bubbly personality. Dorit is the kind of kid that will help with whatever and with a smile on her face."

Nowicki-Liss said she was unique from the other contestants because her story at the club began as a volunteer, not a member.

"I was never the shy kid in the corner; it was always my job to find the shy kids and get them out of their shells," she wrote in an essay. "While I did not grow up at the club in the literal sense, I did grow, however, in the figurative sense.

"The Boys and Girls Club allowed me to see myself as a role model. The skills that the club has given me will allow me to conquer struggles and hard times in the future."

Nowicki-Liss is dual-enrolled at North Idaho College and will receive her associate of science degree this year around the same time she graduates from high school.

She plans to attend the University of Oregon this fall and major in marine biology.

Nowicki-Liss said her Boys and Girls Club job has been rewarding.

"I've gotten to watch the kids grow into awesome people and I've had some part in that," she said. "When I go to college, I'm going to miss them."