Interact is Rotary International's service club for young people ages 14-18. Interact clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance, but Interact clubs are self-governing and self-supporting.

Club membership varies greatly. Clubs can be single-gender or mixed, as well as large and small. The membership base can be drawn from the student body of a single school or from two or more schools from the same community.

Each year, Interact clubs complete at least two community service projects, one of which furthers international understanding and goodwill. Through projects, Interactors develop a network of friendships with local and overseas clubs. And, in the process, Interactors develop leadership skills and learn the value of hard work.

As one of the most significant and fastest-growing programs of Rotary service, with more than 10,700 clubs in 109 countries and geographical areas, Interact has become a worldwide phenomenon.

History

Interact, Rotary International's service club program for young adults at the secondary school level, was officially inaugurated on 28 October 1962. The foundation of Interact marked a new approach to youth service for Rotary. For the first time, Rotarians were not just serving youth, but were empowering them to serve in their communities and internationally with their Rotary club sponsors.

Before the end of his term in 1960, then-RI President Harold T. Thomas appointed an Ad Hoc Committee on Youth to study the implementation of youth service clubs. The group studied preexisting youth clubs and consulted with Rotarians, educators, teenagers, and sociologists. Committee Chairman Charles H. Taylor of Christchurch, New Zealand, played the greatest role in the creation and approval of the program through his insight, leadership, and extensive research. The program was named Interact, a combination of the words "international" and "action."

On 5 November 1962, within eight days of the official adoption of the Interact program, the first Interact club was chartered at Melbourne High School, Fla., USA. The club's 39 members reflected the universal criteria that all Interactors be male and in the last three years of secondary school. Within one year there were 177 Interact clubs in 24 countries; by October 1964 that number had grown to 450 clubs in 35 countries. Within a few years, Interact began to take on its present form. In 1967, the RI Board opened membership to female members, preceding the admission of females to Rotary clubs by 20 years. During the same year, Interact membership was extended to any student in the last four years of secondary school.

Excerpts from Rotary International's website

Click here for the RI Interact website