Minot AFB teen receives Midwest recognition
Submitted Photo Fatimazahra Elbouab holds up her award after being named 2006 Midwest Military Youth of the Year June 25 in Chicago. Photo by John Konstantaras, AP Content Services for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Submitted Photo Fatimazahra Elbouab and adviser and teen coordinator at the Minot Air Force Base Youth Center, Jacorryn “Jay” Wyatt, hold the Midwest Military Youth of the Year award won by Elbouab after Wyatt encouraged her to compete for the title. John Konstantaras, AP Content Services for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Submitted Photo Fatimazahra Elbouab delivers a speech at the Youth of the Year event that she presented earlier in the day to a panel judges.
Submitted Photo Fatimazahra Elbouab holds up her award after being named 2006 Midwest Military Youth of the Year June 25 in Chicago. Photo by John Konstantaras, AP Content Services for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Submitted Photo Fatimazahra Elbouab and adviser and teen coordinator at the Minot Air Force Base Youth Center, Jacorryn “Jay” Wyatt, hold the Midwest Military Youth of the Year award won by Elbouab after Wyatt encouraged her to compete for the title. John Konstantaras, AP Content Services for Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Submitted Photo Fatimazahra Elbouab delivers a speech at the Youth of the Year event that she presented earlier in the day to a panel judges.
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Despite having moved seven times in her 16 years, Fatimazahra Elbouab doesn't shy away from making the most of wherever she is.
Her enthusiasm for engagement and leadership is getting recognized.
Elbouab, of Minot Air Force Base, became the 2026 Midwest Military Youth of the Year on June 25 in Chicago, having previously earned local and state titles. She was awarded a $20,000 scholarship for her leadership, academic excellence and commitment to service.
She will go on to compete against title holders from the four other U.S. regions at the National Military Youth of the Year event in Washington, D.C., from Aug. 2-7.
"I'm kind of nervous, but there's really nothing to lose. So, it's exciting," Elbouab said of the upcoming competition.
The honor is bestowed through the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. The competition includes a traditional Youth of the Year recognition. The five regional nonmilitary honorees and the national military honoree, determined in August, will compete for the overall title.
Elbouab is a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Minot Air Force Base Youth Program and its Keystone Club, a premier teen leadership program. She was encouraged by her Keystone Club adviser to apply for Youth of the Year. The application process included a cover letter, resume and four essays on assigned topics related to club and military experiences, personal growth and what matters to her.
During the competition, she also delivered a three-minute speech and participated in about a 15-minute interview with judges.
"They never really tell us what they are looking for so you just have to present your best self," she said. "Be authentic."
Elbouab is active at Minot North High School in Future Business Leaders of America, HOSA (Future Health Professional), National Honor Society, Student Congress, Science Olympiad, swimming, wrestling, soccer and track. and also is an intern at the base newspaper, Northern Sentry. She has won awards in various endeavors, including district champion in informative speaking and qualifying for the National Speech & Debate Tournament.
She will be a senior this fall at Minot North, having accelerated her education to graduate in Minot rather than finish her senior year in a new school, as her family is scheduled to move again next year.
Her eventual goal is to apply to Harvard.
"I'd like to go for a double degree in neuroscience and aerospace engineering and then become an astronaut and senator and maybe open some businesses here and there," she said.
Elbouab has lived for the past year and half at Minot Air Force Base, where her father serves in the 5th Bomb Wing.
Born in Turkey, Elbouab has lived in England, Washington state, New Jersey, New Mexico, Germany before coming to Minot.
"Personally, I like moving because I get to see new things and I enjoy that," she said. She also acknowledged the challenges of continually meeting new people, adopting to new places and the lack of the continuity in her school activities. But those challenges aren't necessarily negative ones, she said.
"You learn how to adapt to environments and also learn how to adapt to people. You learn how to talk to people and how to listen to people and you just learn how to connect with everything and everyone. I feel like, to me, the positives outweigh the negatives," she said.
As the Midwest Military Youth of the Year, Elbouab will have a role to play in advocacy for youth who share that unique military lifestyle. She said she expects to travel, speak and represent the Boys and Girls Club of America when called upon to do so.
Elbouab previously served on the Joint Service Teen Council, a leadership program for military-connected youth, and traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in its national summit. The council describes the summit as an opportunity to explore issues affecting military-connected teens, engage in collaborative problem-solving and brief senior military leaders at the Pentagon on their findings and recommendations.
Elbouab also participated in the Boys & Girls Clubs Week activities in Washington, D.C., this past June, which provided an additional opportunity to advocate for teens.
She said she recommends the Boys & Girls Clubs, its leadership programs and competitions to other youth.
"I would encourage people to join and to aim high and be themselves," she said.