If It Is To Be, It Is Up To Me! For the past many years, RCFC has sponsored middle and high school students to attend RYLA/YRYLA, the Rotary (and ‘Young Rotary’) Young Leaders Awards camp. This Wednesday we will meet and hear from 4 of the campers, and experience what was most impactful for them. With a bit of luck, they will go farther than just ‘telling’, and ‘teach’ what they learned to our membership. Our program MC will be RYLA/YRYLA Committee Co-Chair, Lloyd Thomas. Read more…
The objectives of RYLA are:
- To encourage and assist youth leaders and potential leaders in methods of responsible and effective leadership by providing them with a training experience.
- To encourage continued and stronger leadership of youth by youth
- To publicly recognize the outstanding qualities of many young people who are rendering service to their schools and communities as leaders
Through Rotarian’s generosity, last year RCFC increased our sponsorship from 6 to 12 RYLArians. According to their website, “RYLA is a life-changing leadership training program for young men and women where leadership skills and principles are learned, developed and enhanced in an atmosphere of trust and respect. The purpose of RYLA is to encourage and assist current and potential youth leaders in methods of responsible and effective leadership.” The most common comments we hear after is "It was the best week of my life!” or “It changed my life!”.
Rotary clubs in districts 5440 and 5450, throughout Northern Colorado, Wyoming, Eastern Idaho and Western Nebraska sponsored 700+ students to participate in these 5-day leadership conferences known as Rocky Mountain RYLA and YRYLA. RYLA Conferences are held at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado.
Gillian Hepworth will be in the eighth grade at Liberty Common Charter School where she is involved in the track and field team, intramural soccer, musical theater and student leadership, maintaining a 3.9 GPA. She reports her "family bikes, camps, hikes, swims and goes to the gym close to our home. If I can find time, I shovel snow for my neighbors in the winter and rake the leaves in our yard in the Spring and Fall."
Andrea (Andi), daughter of our own Tammie, was chosen to attend RYLA because of her own talents and leadership skills. Andi will be a junior at Fossil Ridge High School where she is active in the school's STEM Academy. Andi swims for the Fort Collins Area Swim Team (FAST), plays basketball on the FRHS varsity basketball team, has joined the National Charity League, and is an assistant camp counselor/volunteer at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. She is an alumna of YRYLA and participates in DECA.
Also from Fossil Ridge High School, Jazmin King-Reynolds (Jazz), daughter of our own Will Reynolds, aspires to become a "Hollywood Film Director and then a high-school teacher." She volunteers at a local Media Production Studio where she teaches the use of the production equipment and assists FC Media in making their productions. This Fall, she will be the president of the FRHS History Club, and lead in multiple service projects of that Club. Jazz is also "a dancer" and dances at the Loveland Dance Academy. She volunteers at a local elementary school as well as the public Library. She is also an alumna of YRYLA.