Fifteen-year-old Hillsboro resident Jeffrey Beery was awarded the Wright-Patterson 445th Air Wing Youth of the Year Award on April 1.

Teenage children of the 2,000 members of the wing are eligible for nomination and Beery was selected the winner and presented with a beautiful eagle trophy by wing commander Colonel Adam Willis at the Annual Wing Awards banquet held at the Air Force Museum.

The award nominees are judged in five areas: academic accomplishments, participation in base or community activities, leadership, self-improvement efforts and life goals.

Beery is an outstanding student who attended Saint Mary Catholic School in Hillsboro in grades K-4 and has studied the Seton Home School curriculum since. He should graduate high school in this fall, two and a half years early. He has also earned 40 hours of credit at Southern State Community College toward an electro-mechanical engineering degree and has a 4.0 GPA at the college, but also has a passion for chemistry and has received excellent instruction in this at the college as well.

Beery ran for the Hillsboro Middle School two years in both track and cross country and ran cross country for Hillsboro High School last year, but was unable to run high school track because of a college calculus II scheduling conflict. He lifts weights and studies karate under Master Phil Zimmerman.

Beery is a member of Saint Mary Catholic Church and has served as an alter boy and has assisted with home communion services for the sick. His family says he is a wonderful big brother to his sister and is very patient.

His hobbies include building rockets on his computer, model rockets and he loves flying drones. His life goal is to create inventions that will help his country and military to be better and to remain truthful, sober and helpful to others. He plans to raise a family in Hillsboro.

He is the son of Jeff and Tara Beery of Hillsboro.