Tyler Merriweather, a Holt native, is a junior in elementary education and a staff member at the Boys & Girls Club of West Alabama Inc. Merriweather’s passion is in encouraging youth not to be victims of their circumstances but to discover victories within those circumstances. He is active in the campaign for Holt to become a city and to get a new school, the latter recently approved by the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education.

The annual Realizing the Dream Awards are presented by the University of Alabama Division of Community Affairs.

Cinematography by Preston Sullivan.