RYLA students speak to Byesville Rotary about leadership

RYLA stands for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program. This program, sponsored by local Rotary clubs, trains high school students in leadership, citizenship, and personal growth. The Byesville Rotary sponsored Brittany Shelton and Brooke Aleshire at the first annual District 6690 RYLA Youth Conference held at OU in Athens.

In order to qualify for sponsorship, Brittany and Brook submitted an application which included a brief essay describing why they would be an appropriate candidate for the conference and submitted a recommendation from a school administer.

Brook and Brittany were clearly enthusiastic about their experiences at the conference. They explained that RYLA is an intensive training program for young community leaders. The 21/2 days they spent at the conference were packed with hands on activities designed to help students develop character, self-confidence, and self-esteem. They also worked on developing leadership and problem-solving skills.

Their favorite part of the conference was the American RYLA Idol activity. Teams of students were challenged to do a skit dealing with one of the 6 pillars of character: caring, honesty, respect, responsibility, fairness, or citizenship. The skits were goofy but everyone learned a lot about each of the pillars. Because the skits were interactive, the students learned to think on the spot in order to respond to unexpected questions and situations.

Brittany and Brook both felt that training like that offered at the RYLA conference helped changed how they approached life. They both feel they are more pro-active and willing to get involved in activities.

They have convinced the Meadowbrook Interact club to sponsor a “Purple Pinkie Day” to raise funds to help eliminate polio. Each $1.00 donation will pay to immunize 1 child. Donors will have their pinkies colored purple to represent that child that their dollar will help immunize.

The 2012 RYLA Youth Conference will be held July 19-21, 2012. Attendees will be limited to 96 students. Based on Brook and Brittany’s experience at the first conference, Byesville Rotary intends to continue to sponsor Meadowbrook student attendance at the 2ed RYLA Conference.

Byesville Rotary has begun working with the Cambridge Salvation Army to provide Christmas food baskets to local families. Byesville will announce dates for Rolling Hills School District families to register for baskets in the near future.

The club meets 7:30 am every Tuesday at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary can call Membership Chairs Marty Patchen, 740-685-3828, or Randy Launder, 740-801-0017.