Photo By Staff Sgt. Sarah Brice | Jonathan Gorman exchanges a high-five with Col. Cisco Harris, Tinker Air Force Base installation commander, during a surprise celebration at the Tinker Youth Center at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, Aug. 10, 2026. Tinker leadership joined Youth Center members, family and friends to recognize Gorman’s accomplishment as the National Military Youth of the Year. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sarah Brice) see less
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This little light: Tinker teen’s journey from youth to national leader
Seventeen-year-old Jonathan Gorman walks through a cheering lineup, clutching his newly-won, National Military Youth of the Year award. Moving the trophies into one arm, he reaches toward the crowd to embrace what matters most to him: his people.
Gorman’s journey started when he strode into the Tinker Youth Center for the first time at nine years old. Back then, he imagined a clear path for his future: professional basketball.
While Gorman had his sights set on the basketball court, people around him noticed how he shone the brightest off the court.
“Children look up to Jonathan. God has given him that gift for children,” said Shamale Gorman, Jonathan’s mother. “I’ve had parents come up to me and say, ‘your son made my son feel so special because he made him feel like he was seen and heard.’”
The Tinker Youth Center provided Jonathan Gorman with leadership programs like Keystone, Passport to Manhood, 4-H and Teen Council, which helped him become more confident.
“All of these programs as a collective have shaped, molded and guided him into the young man that he is today,” said Shamale Gorman. “It takes a village. Jonathan is the epitome of ‘it takes a village.’”
Last year, Jonathan Gorman competed in and lost Youth of the Year at regional level.
Gorman said that the loss initially hurt, especially because younger children at the Youth Center were excited for him to succeed, and he felt like he let everybody down.
Eventually, he realized that losing had given those children a new perspective.
“They thought, ‘Oh, Jonny’s like us. He can do this. He can lose, too,’” Gorman said. “I think me losing last year was actually kind of a gain moment. It was a moment that I could really just look back on. I needed it to happen.”
Fueled by his fellow youth, family, and Tinker Youth Center staff, Gorman threw himself into the next year’s competition.
Rachael McClease, Tinker Youth Center teen director helped prepare him for the next year. Gorman and McClease worked on his speeches on weekends and before the center opened so Gorman could practice without distractions. He also practiced speeches in front of younger children.
“We had to prepare him for any distractions,” McClease said.
This practice became crucial when he went up for state competition in 2026, but it still couldn’t prepare him from himself.
He walked on stage, spoke the first three lines of his speech, and promptly forgot everything else.
“And I freestyled the rest,” Gorman said.
He still won.
But as Gorman advanced to regional level, he was about to be judged in a way that his training could not prepare him for.
The spark that people saw in Gorman years ago was the final factor that won him the National Military Youth of the Year award.
Judges continued watching the contestants after formal competition hours were over, and Gorman stood out among his peers.
“What stood out was Jonathan, how he interacted with the other, the other contestants, how he supported them and cheered for them and, and pushed them and rallied with him,” said Shamale Gorman “[The staff] said his authenticity was palpable and that he had such a bright light.”
“I don’t know if there are words because I am so proud,” McClease said. “It’s just awesome to see somebody work towards something and then see the fruits of their labor.”
The fruits of Jonathan Gorman’s labors included becoming the Keystone President, a member of the Joint Service Teen Council, and coordinating a service project for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These accomplishments helped him win the Tinker Youth of the Year, Oklahoma Military Youth of the Year and Southwest Regional Military Youth of the Year before earning the National Military Youth of the Year title against four other contestants.
In October, Gorman will travel New York City for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Youth of the Year competition where he will compete alongside five regional Youth of the Year winners.
Gorman is currently attending Rose State College tuition-free for his first two years and will use his Youth of the Year money to help pay for his remaining years at the University of Oklahoma.
After he graduates from college, Gorman wants to work for the community that guided and believed in him: the Tinker Youth Center.
It took a village to help him find his light.
Now, Jonathan Gorman plans to use it to give back to his tribe.
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