SEQUIM – The girl’s got game. A lot of it.
Nicole Pruden was named the Olympic Peninsula Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year this week – but she’s been a little too busy to bask in the spotlight.
Pruden, a senior at Sequim High School, is games room coordinator at the Boys & Girls Club at 400 W. Fir St., which means she plunges into bedlam by 2:45 p.m. each day.
Children pour into the place.
Some go to the billiards table, while many gather around the blonde with the small microphone – for communicating with other club staffers – and the big smile.
Pruden works about 25 hours a week as a paid staffer, watching over the after-school pool, foosball and ping pong.
“I help them get along,” she said, grinning like that’s easy.
Evenings, Pruden often takes part in the teen activities organized by the Boys & Girls Club: movies, sports, hikes, community volunteer projects.
She considers the club a getaway from everyday stresses – and wishes more teenagers would discover it.