May on the Rotary calendar is Youth service month.
Youth Service recognises the positive change implemented by youth and young adults through leadership development activities, service projects and exchange programs. It aims to provide innovative and practical opportunities to assist and motivate young people in our communities to acquire learning and life skills.
Youth Service is an investment in the future. A commitment to Youth Service within and through our clubs is a commitment to the next generation of potential Rotarians and the ongoing future and health of our clubs.
Clubs need to engage with young people and this is frequently via schools with which the club has an association. It is usually through these schools that students are sourced or recommended for our many Rotary Youth Service programs. Some Youth Programs our club is involved with include:
Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) is a week-long camp aimed at encouraging and developing leadership, personal development and social skills in young people in the age group of 10 to 25 years of age. RYLA is lead and staffed by Rotarians.
Rotary Youth Progarm of Enrichment (RYPEN) is a weekend camp for years 10 and 11 students aimed to develop the student’s potential through lecture style sessions and adventure based learning thereby assisting the student in forming their own values and moral standards. Rylarians and Rotaractors act as camp leaders with Rotarians as supervisors.
Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) simulates the workings of the United Nations and is aimed at building bridges of goodwill for work peace and understanding through students’ personal involvement in the acceptance of situations that reflect opinions of an “adopted” country, which may be contrary to their own views. The weekend camp is chaired and supervised by Rotarians.
The Science Programs are facilitated by Rotary in that Rotary clubs source and nominate and select students for The Science Experience (for years 9 and 10 students) and the prestigious National Youth Science Program (NYSF) (for year 11 students). These programs are aimed at recognising the importance of the sciences, engineering and technologies in our ever changing world and assisting students who are interested in a career in any of those areas to realise how broad those areas are whilst at the same time encouraging student’s personal development.
If you are interested in supporting our youth to engage in Rotary activities please get in touch. We will welcome youth with open arms and support them in their activities.