RYLA

Posted on May 01, 2018
Each year, thousands of young people take part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program worldwide. Young people are chosen for their leadership potential to attend an all-expenses-paid camp to discuss leadership skills and to learn those skills through practice. Rotary clubs and districts select participants and facilitate the event’s curriculum.
 
Rotary District 5240 spans the central coast of California from San Luis Obispo to Agoura Hills covering inland to China Lake. This district is comprised of 72 independent local Rotary clubs. Each year the district hosts a leadership retreat for high school students local to each of these clubs. The opportunity for each Rotary club to make an impact in their own back yards is far reaching through this event.
 

 

 

RYLA aims to:

  • Provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders;
  • Encourage leadership of youth by youth;
  • Encourage youth to make a difference in their communities through volunteer work and social responsibility; and
  • Demonstrate Rotary’s respect and concern for youth.

RYLA was officially adopted by Rotary International in 1971, and is one of the most significant and fastest-growing programs of Rotary service. RYLA programs often lead to the formation or strengthening of Rotaract and Interact clubs. RYLA participants often go on to become Youth Exchange students or Ambassadorial Scholars. For more information about RYLA in your area, contact your local Rotary club or your district RYLA chairperson. More information is available at the Rotary International website.

 

UPDATE

 

Tonight, May 1st, four students who went to RYLA spent some time talking to us about their time at RYLA.  the four students let us know the impact it had on their young lives.  A sense of inclusion with other students, some found mentors, and others learned that there classmates were also going through hard times, and that they could lean on each other for support and help, a place to use a shoulder to cry on.