Youth Director Chris Thurtell outlined his vision for the next 12 months.  This year, whilst we are hosting an incoming YE student, we are not going to send one out in January since we currently have two (Gabrielle and Felicity) overseas.  Our main focus will be on the other Youth Programs, in particular the "5 big ones": RYPEN (Rotary Youth Program for Enrichment), RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award), RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness), NYSF (the National Youth Science Forum) and of course Youth Exchange with our students currently stationed overseas and freshly arrived Martina from Italy.  "Our challenge is to find a candidate selected by us", Chris emphasised. This is in reference to the fact that in past years it was quite common that we would "inherit" a (nevertheless very worthy) candiate proposed by another club.
 
This is a weekend experience for 14 - 16 year old students, designed to assist them in their transition to adulthood.  The emphasis is on quality, safety, outcomes, communication, decision making.  Applicants don't necessarily have to be top academic achievers Click on the link above for more details, in particular read the 'About RYPEN' page.
 
RYLA is, as the name would suggest, a camp to develop leaders.  Designed for 19 - 28 year olds, it features numerous segments on personal development, leadership skills, citizenship skills, how to handle change.  Originally conceived in Australia in 1959, it was adopted world wide in 1971 and by 1998 is running in some 521 Districts.  More details on the above link.
 
Now, this is for the seriously brainy!  You may recall we were fortunate to have Maria Ciubuc-Batcu (picture on right) accepted in 2013.  Annually held in Canberra, this is a serious (but with lots of fun) 2 week excercise for aspiring scientists.
 
Just how many lives has RYDA saved over the years?  Nobody would know. But there would be almost nobody who has not, at some stage in their lives, been touched by the tragedy of a young man or woman suffering total disability or even death due to misjudging their driving ability, or worse, due to their mate's driving ability.  The loss is not just for the individual, but their families and friends are forever affected.  Our club, with the driving force of DGN Darrell Brown behind it, has a long standing involvement in this very important program.
 
Travel, Adventure, Opportunity... The leading program of its kind in the world. Our club was dormant for many years, until we revived this program again with great success.  Over the past few years, we had a strong involvement, culminating with our recent students Isabelle Franich (to France) and currently two students, Felicity Cooper (in Finland) and Gabrielle Burey (in Germany), and of course the very successful inbound students we have recently hosted: Lyssia Delameneure (Belgium) in 2013-14, Laura Burtscher (Austria) in 2014-15 and now, just arrived, Martina Missarelli (Italy).
 
So, how will we go about it?  "Schools are getting so many enquiries for participants in Youth programs" Chris said, "we will take alternative venues such as Sport and Surf Clubs". Our motto:
"Find your place in the world".