Air Force Reserve selects youth of the year Published May 30, 2006 ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Megan Harper, teen-age daughter of Tech. Sgt. Gregory and Melody Harper, is Air Force Reserve Command’s Youth of the Year for 2006. Ms. Harper holds a 4.0 GPA in high school and has received academic awards in English, algebra and economics. Her father is an Air Force reservist at Gen. Mitchell International Airport Air Reserve Station, Wis., and currently stationed in Balad Air Base, Iraq. To be considered for her award, Ms. Harper wrote an essay and provided background information about school and community life. Sponsored by AFRC Services, the award program is open to children, ages 14 to 18, of Air Force Reserve members. She received two first-place division ratings in piano and flute and advanced to the state-level competition where she received the highest rating of one. She is a member of the Senior Girl Scouts and has earned both the Bronze and Silver Awards and is working toward the Girl Scout Gold Award. Ms. Harper is a member of her school’s basketball and track teams, and is involved in a wide variety of community and church activities including creating and maintaining a memory garden project, participating in an adopt a watershed project, and a food pantry ministry. She volunteers her time with the Big Brother/Big Sister Program and at a local nursing home. She prepares gift packages for deployed service members and plays piano at her church’s worship services. Ms. Harper plans to attend Michigan State University and study physical therapy. (AFRC News Service)