Shayna Turk For her work in helping to inspire the next generation of actors, Shayna Turk of Agoura Hills has been named the 2010 Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation and Visa Inc.

Shayna was chosen from more than 4,300 nationwide candidates. She was awarded a $10,000 scholarship to help defray the cost of her tuition at USC.

Four additional students were named National Young Entrepreneur Award winners and will each receive a $5,000 educational scholarship. All five winners were honored at a luncheon on June 24 in Washington, D.C.

“This year’s applicants demonstrate that entrepreneurial curiosity is thriving in high schools across America,” said Terry LaPier, chair of the Young Entrepreneur Foundation board of directors. “Our goal is that these scholarships will help young people gain the confidence required to run their own enterprises that create jobs and give back to our communities.”

Shayna is the teenage director and founder of Shayna Turk’s Academy of Rising Stars, a musical theater camp which she started at age 11. The camp gives children, regardless of talent level, a chance to experience stage performing.

Acting since she was 5 years old, her inspiration for the camp grew after seeing younger children in her community get turned down for starring roles in local performances because of their age. Shayna markets, produces, directs, choreographs and stages all of the shows put on by her camp. She has produced nine different musicals in six years.

Starting with eight kids, STARS now has more than 30 campers annually. Each camp puts on four performances of each show, with approximately 100 people in attendance per show. Shayna also offers a one day a week and one weekend day enrichment program during the school year.

All proceeds from her camp’s performances are donated to Music for Heart, a charity founded by the parents of one of her campers born with a congenital heart disease.

Music for Heart raises funds for children who suffer from congenital heart disease, and the funds go toward sponsoring cardio-thoracic medical missions to Third World countries where cardiac care is unavailable.

To date, STARS has raised $10,000 for Music for Heart, which has helped save the lives of six children.

The Young Entrepreneur of the Year award is given annually to the top applicant in the Young Entrepreneur Awards program, sponsored by the Young Entrepreneur Foundation. To earn a scholarship, students were asked to demonstrate their entrepreneurial achievement by answering a questionnaire defining their efforts. Standardized test scores, GPA and class rank were also taken into consideration.

The Young Entrepreneur Foundation is a nonprofit organization promoting the importance of small business and free enterprise to the nation’s youth.