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District 5495 is sponsoring its fourth year of Jr. RYLA at Camp at Camp Wamatochick in Prescott, AZ. After many years of great impact at the high school level Jr. RYLA was started to create leaders at a younger age for even greater impact. The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Camp exists to aspire youth to become exceptional leaders in our communities committed to the ideals of the Four Way Test. The target audience for Jr. RYLA is students have completed 6th through 8th grades in the Summer.
The establishment of the Jr Interact clubs within the District has prepared delegates for this camp. As the leaders of the future, they learn to understand themselves, their strengths, and opportunities for growth. The theme is "Discovering your Why" leads to sessions on role models, personalities, conflict resolution, emphasizing the Four Way Test as a model for personal interactions. Interactive sessions mixed with physical activities keep these young delegates engaged.
They are led by Sr. High Interact and Rotaract leaders as well as Rotarians. These young adults are able to grow their leadership ability. The Rotary Four-Way Test is used to create the curriculum for both the Jr. and Senior RYLA. In this way the middle school delegates are introduced to the model of living and the older teens and young adults solidify living out this in their lives.
This project supports at least the first three Areas of Focus for these grants.
1. Enhancing the capacity of individuals and communities to transform conflict and build peace
2. Training community members in peace education, peace leadership, and conflict prevention and resolution
The camp is built upon the Four-Way test. The delegates are asked to learn more about themselves to build internal peace and then to learn about interactions with others to create community. They work in teams to compete and learn. The leaders of the camp are strengthened in leadership and conflict resolution as they work with the delegates in problem solving.
3. Providing services that help integrate vulnerable populations into society
We draw from the districts local public schools which are predominately minority serving institutions. Our camp last year was approximately 80% minority including Hispanic and Black delegates.
4. Improving dialogue and community relations to determine how best to manage natural resources
The camp is held in a natural environment and delegates are introduced to this natural resourced and encouraged to respect and value the surrounding.
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