Rotary Youth Leadership Awards

Although many of our club members are familiar with the acronym, some of you may not be familiar with RYLA and it’s value to the young people in our community.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (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 global citizenship

RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth, and aims to: - Demonstrate Rotary's respect and concern for youth. - Provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders. - Encourage leadership of youth by youth. - Recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities.

On Hawai’i island, the responsibility for the organization of the camp is rotated between the clubs on the Island, with each club expected to participate is some way. Youth Services Chair Susie Osborne is recommending that we sponsor two students to attend the camp, which will be taking place the weekend of February 27 to March 1 at the Kilauea Military Camp in Volcanoes National Park.

What we need is for one or two Rotarians from our club to attend the camp, and to provide transportation to and from Volcano for the two students. This is a great opportunity to learn more about RYLA and the impact that the camp can have on the teenagers who attend.

If you are interested in learning more about the camp, and perhaps participating in the weekend, please contact Pres Craig or Susie Osborne