When Michael Briceño's dad left, the oldest of four knew he had to step up and be role models for his younger sisters.

"I was there to help my mother through it all," he writes in his application for the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year, an honor he received recently. "Since I am the only boy, and the oldest, a lot of additional responsibilities have fallen to me."

Now 17, Briceño started attending the Hopewell/Mann Boys and Girls Club when he was 9, when his mother, Dee Ann Briceño, was running a children's basketball league.

"I've always been around (the club), and I'm working for it now," Briceño said happily. "It's always been around when I need somebody to talk to or need a place to get away. It's been a second home to me."

Now, Briceño has followed in his mom's footsteps and coaches a basketball team — the Little Dribblers — for 6- to 9-year-olds.

"I just enjoy being able to help the little kids and help steer them in the right direction," Briceño said. "No matter what position I hold with the club, to me it does not even seem like a job."

He's proud to have been selected the Youth of the Year for the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club, an honor that comes along with a $1,000 scholarship, which he plans to use to pursue his studies with the ultimate goal of being a lawyer.

"It's an honor," he said. "It's a big achievement and it shows the Boys and Girls Club do see what the people who work for them do and they do appreciate it. It's just an honor to get it."

"Michael is a perfect example of a positive role model that youth in our community can look up to," said Al Padilla, the chief professional officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Fe. "The Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Fe is better for having come into contact with Mr. Michael Briceño."

Briceño, a senior at Santa Fe High School, participates in the yearbook, is a member of the Key Club, the bowling team and plays basketball and football in his spare time. He's been highly active in extracurricular activities since he was in first grade — when he started playing basketball, participating in the chess club and holding office with the student council. Over the past few years, he has organized successful food and toy drives for families in need over the holiday season.

His goal is to be somebody his sisters — Kristine, Stefnee and Leslie Briceño — can look up to.

"I just want to be a positive role model to them and show them the difference between right and wrong," Briceño said. "I want them to go for all their dreams in life."

Mariana Grajeda, 11, is well on her way to being the Youth of the Year one day — the same night Briceño was honored, Mariana was named the Junior Youth of the Year, a title that came with a laptop computer and a trophy taller than she is.

Mariana, a student at Sweeney Elementary School, has a schedule jam-packed with activities. On Mondays, she volunteers at the Camino de Jacobo Boys and Girls Club, on Tuesdays she has cheerleading practice, on Wednesdays she usually has a game to cheer for and on Fridays, she dances with the Sweeney Dancers, a folklorico group. Not to mention her ultra-dedication to football.

For Mariana, who is right in the middle of seven children in her family, winning the honor was bittersweet. She was up against her sister for the honor, which bothered her.

"It's really an honor and everything and I'm proud of myself, but I feel bad for the kids who didn't win," Mariana said sadly. "I really wanted to pass (the title) on to my sister."

But when they called her name at a banquet on Feb. 5, she was finally ready to keep the award.

"When they called my name, my heart just went like, 'Boom,' " she said with a big smile. "My grandma and my sister started crying and I was, like, so proud."

Her job at the club is to help take care of some of the younger children, helping them with homework and getting snacks ready.

"I really like being there because it shows them how to be responsible and respectful and helps them learn how to take care of other people," Mariana said.

Monica Vasquez, Mariana's grandmother, said the club was one of the best things to happen to the girl. When Vasquez started baby-siting Mariana in 2006, she said the child didn't have very much respect and her grades weren't very high. Mariana is just one of Vasquez's grandchildren involved in the organization, and she says it's done the same thing for all of them.

"They've learned how to respect," Vasquez said. "I had a hard time (at first), but I put them in there and little by little they started getting used to different things."

Mariana has brought up her grades — and learned some manners.

"I didn't used to respect a lot," Mariana explains. "I used to yell at my Grandma a lot, but now I'm OK."

Mariana wants to grow up and be a football player and credits her aunt, Cristal Vasquez, for encouraging her to dream big.

"She tells us, 'don't give up,' " Mariana explained. "She said, 'You're never going to be a football payer if you don't keep your grades up."

And while she's keeping her title, she's not selfish.

"I'm going to share (my computer) with my sister," she said happily.

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at 986-3084 or atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.