RYLA is a leadership development program run by Rotary. While participants can be any age, most events focus on secondary school students, university students, or young professionals. RYLA events are typically 3–10 days long and include presentations, activities, and workshops that cover a variety of topics, including leadership fundamentals and ethics, communication skills, problem solving and conflict management, community and good citizenship and personal growth.
Its also about encouraging leadership of youth by youth.
The event in Cayman is for 15–18 year olds, and runs from August 13-16. It is organized by Rotary Central and sponsored jointly by the Rotary and Rotaract Clubs of the Cayman Islands. Rotary Sunrise has donated $5000 towards the costs associated with putting on the event which is free of cost for all 36 registrants. The facilitators for the conference are experienced ones from RYLA District 6970 in
Florida, and the programme is based on the RYLA programme offered in that District.
Rotarians are invited to observe the sessions The main days of group sessions will take place on Saturday, August 15th at the UCCI auditorium and will commence at 9:00 am running through until 4:00pm and again on Sunday 16th from 9:00 until 2:00 pm at the UCCI auditorium.
Highlights of the activities will include the registrants participating in community service projects on Friday morning and the formal dinner on Saturday evening.
Rotarians are invited to attend the Saturday dinner at the George Town Yacht Club. It begins at 6:15pm, and the cost is $35 per person.
Rashad Jones has spoken to over 60,000 individuals worldwide in the past fifteen years. He’s been featured in a book entitled, “Men on a Mission: Valuing Youth Work in our Communities” authored by Professor William Marsiglio PhD., University of Florida.
Rashad always wows his audiences with his positive ‘freestyle rapping’.He has a solid reputation as a highly sought after, effective, relatable, professional and gifted youth speaker. Rashad has a wealth of knowledge in working with young people. He has worked with public and private schools, school districts, faith-based organizations, government agencies, county health departments, churches, juvenile detention facilities, non-profit organizations, service organizations, colleges, universities and community-based youth programs.
Rashad is the Founder and Director of EPIC Youth Services, LLC. which specializes in youth motivational speaking, outreach event planning, program consultation, and program development. He is passionate about working with organizations that are looking for new and effective strategies to positively impact the youth and families in their communities.Rashad brings a creative and effective approach to every project that he works on. His goal is to ignite the fuse of positive change in every young person that he meets. Many have referred to him as the best Freestyle rapper throughout the entire state of Florida. His freestyle always proves to be a great connecting tool with all of the youth audiences that he works with. He uses this skill to build effective bridges for communicating important messages and difficult topics to youth.
Rotarians, Rotaractors Unlesash Awesomeness on the Brac
Photo credits: Gina McBryan (left), Rotaract Club of Grand Cayman Facebook page (right)
This past weekend, the Rotaract Club of Grand Cayman partnered with Youth Services to help with a service project on Cayman Brac. The trip began with a celebrity basketball game on Friday evening where local players came out to play a friendly game against visiting Rotaractors. Food was available and the music was courtesy of some local high schoolers who would put some professional DJ’s to shame.
Saturday morning started off early as we all were prepared for some community service work at the local Youth Centre. The existing youth development centre needed some TLC with a fresh coat of paint. As we primed and painted the room, we fellowshipped with other youth volunteers who came over from Grand Cayman to help with the project. Past Rotaract President and past Sunrise member Victor Crumbley organized the event in partnership with our Rotaractors. We also had the opportunity to work alongside Rotary Brac President Lauriese who also shared information on some other projects we could partner with in the future.
Once the service work was done, it was time for some lunch and then some sightseeing of popular Brac spots with our very own tour guide, Rotaract President Matthew Seales. Our tour of the island included a long beach hike in the hot sun to see the bluffs, south end light house where the white butterflies are everywhere, and several caves including the historical Rebecca’s Cave. In the evening, we enjoyed a community fellowship in honour of Jamaican Independence and food was courtesy of the Rotary Brac club. In total there were 7 Rotaractors and 2 Rotarians (Paulette from Central and Gina from Sunrise) who participated in this service project and island trip. Our hope is to continue to partner and engage in fellowship with more service projects.
As this was a project organized by the Rotaract Club, come out to our joint club meeting this Wednesday to hear more about their project. #kacaw
During last week’s meeting, Past President J.D. Mosely-Matchett described the Rotary Leadership Institute and its upcoming programs.
RLI courses are designed for Rotarians who have the potential for future club leadership (not necessarily as club presidents) and provide them with a quality education in Rotary knowledge and the leadership skills that are so important in voluntary organizations.
RLI offers courses in three sessions. Those completing each course are eligible for the next. There are Graduate courses available to those who have completed the three-part RLI curriculum.
PART I – “THE ROTARIAN” Your introduction to the RLI experience. Emphasis is placed on providing an overview of Rotary programs and helping develop ideas that participants can take back to their Rotary Clubs.
PART II – “THE ROTARY CLUB” Focus is placed on fostering the qualities of a knowledgeable Rotarian by building on the basics learned in Part I. The day includes an individual analysis of your Rotary Club and its effectiveness.
PART III – “THE ROTARY JOURNEY” Learn about opportunities available to you and your club through RI and how to best utilize them. Understand what it means to be a Rotarian and how you can use your RLI knowledge to better serve your club.
RLI will be held in Cayman on October 3-4. Part I will be offered on Saturday from 8:00am to 3:30pm. Part II will be offered on Sunday. Part III is offered on Saturday for those who have already taken the first two classes. Each class is $95.
Registration has just closed for an RLI cruise aboard the Independence of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) from December 10-13 as it sails from Fort Lauderdale to Cozumel and back. You can contact Steve Leichner at PSL Travel (877-387-4460) if you want to see if any space is still available.
Back in 2013, all of the Grand Cayman service clubs joined together for a common purpose: an eduction program about recycling called "Join In." This past Thursday, Past President of Kiwanis Kadi Pentney and Vice President of Rotary Sunrise Gina McBryan had the opportunity to present to a group of young students ages 13-16 who were participating in the short summer programme of UWC in East End. The UWC short program was a 4-day event to help teach our next generation of community leaders how to be responsible for a sustainable future.
The "Join In" recycling presentation was the first presentation to help kick off the programme, and the kids were presented with a bin to use over the 4 days to collect recyclables instead of tossing items in the trash. We were glad to see 2 familiar young Sunriser faces in the crowd, Anja van Genderen and Tyler Lawson.
To learn more about our joint service club initiative and how to recycle in Cayman, visit www.JoinIn.ky
Meeting Make-Ups
Make-ups: In addition to make-up opportunities at Rotary Sunrise, you can make up absences at another Club in Grand Cayman. The meeting times and places for the other Clubs are:
Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Central:
Tuesdays 7:30pm at Grand Old House
Rotaract Blue:
Wednesdays 6:00pm at Royal Palms Beach Club
Rotary Club of Grand Cayman:
Thursdays 12:30pm at George Town Yacht Club... a change in August.
Rotaract Club of Grand Cayman: Thursdays 7:00am at Treats Cafe, West Shore Plaza
Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean 7020: Online meetings anytime. Visit the new e-club platform at
If members are unable to make a regular weekly meeting or Rotary event, make-ups can be done online. The e-Club website is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You just need to spend a minimum of 30 minutes on the site and answer some questions to get the make up certificate.
Traveling: If you are going to be traveling for an extended period of time (more than two weeks), be sure to let the Secretary know and remember to submit any make-ups you do in a timely manner.
Looking Back: Heart of Rotary
Our Tradition of Recognizing Extra Efforts
This week’s look back at the Rotary Sun archives features photos of a few of the Rotarians who received special recognition for going over and above the regular duties expected of members.
The “Heart of Rotary” pin is awarded for a wide range of good deeds: the members whose ideas and feedback increase the productivity of committee meetings so that things get done, the member who works hard to capture Rotary moments in photos, the member who ensures there are always people filling the Duty Roster, the member who ensures a service project is carried out from conception to completion, and so much more.
Rotarians by nature are expected to be active participants, and they are. But every year a few of our colleagues receive extra gratitude for pouring themselves into putting service above self.
During this Membership Month, let’s be on the lookout for new members who will one day receive their own “Heart of Rotary” pin for lightening our load as they bring new ideas and new energy to our club.
August 1, 2012 - Christine Matthews
January 12, 2011 - Jerrell Garner
Also awarded that day: Geoff Matthews
August 4, 2010 - Woody Foster
March 4, 2015 - Jerrell Garner
Also awarded that day: Dr. Uli Ecke, Pat Kreitlow and Claude Myles
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