Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)
The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive 4-day workshop for youth ages 14 to 17 in grades 9-11. These young adults are chosen for their leadership potential to attend an all-expense paid training program designed to build, strengthen, and exercise leadership skills used in all aspects of business, community, school and life. RYLA includes recreational and cultural activities, which emphasize individual and team development.
These High School students, known as RYLA delegates, come together from communities across District 5500 (Southern Arizona) and are joined by Rotary Exchange students from other countries.
RYLA provides a memorable opportunity to learn, grow and have fun, while making some new friends along the way. Those who attend a RYLA are generally better able to successfully manage their own lives and careers and make a difference by being leaders in the community.
Barbara Harrison – District 5500 RYLA Chair
I joined the Oro Valley Rotary Club in January 2014, where I have been heavily involved in the Club’s Youth Services programs. Projects have included the High School Scholarship Program, Youth Exchange, and the Four-Way Test Competition. I taught two modules at RYLA in 2016 and 2017. I also spent 3 years as the Registrar for Rotary’s Ride to End Polio that is part of El Tour de Tucson.
I am happily retired, after spending 35 years working at Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon. My roles included a wide variety of activities, including leadership development, communication skills, team development, conflict resolution, executive coaching, Six Sigma process improvement, risk management, and anything else I could learn to help Engineers and Program Teams be more effective in working together and with their customers and suppliers.
Before working at Hughes, I taught High School social studies in Richland, Washington for 2 years, followed by 2 years in Redmond, Oregon teaching language arts and social studies to 8th graders. I have a BA in political science and history from UCSB, and a MS in Organization Development from Pepperdine University.
In addition to Rotary, I am the Operations Manager for TEDxTucson, love cycling, swimming, gardening, going to U of A basketball games, trying new restaurants, attending cultural events in Tucson, and traveling around the world!