Meet Huck House Youth Award Winner, Ivan Vargas.

Besides being a well-mannered, respectful, hardworking student, Ivan is a model for true perseverance. Three days after his eighteenth birthday, Ivan was arrested for taking a joy ride on a grocery cart scooter. Ivan was booked with a felony charge and encouraged by his public defender to plea out and serve jail time. Ivan did not graduate from high school with his peers. Today, he is on track to graduate in the spring while working full-time at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Although the felony will keep him from joining the military, a life-long dream, Ivan plans to become an auto mechanic. Ivan is unique because he owns his mistakes, blames no one, and takes full responsibility for creating a better life for himself.