Rotary Youth Leadership Award

GIRLS’ CAMP: Sunday, July 15 through Saturday, July 21, 2007
BOYS’ CAMP: Saturday, July 21 through Friday, July 27, 2007

Application deadline: 1 Apr 2007
(download at <http://www.rotary5520.org/ryla>)

RYLA's Purpose: to challenge the ideals of young people from the age of 15 to 18 years. Each summer the Rotary Club offers scholarships to attend Camp RYLA for a weeklong learning camp in the Manzano mountains. District-wide, the Rotary Club provides full scholarship to 176 youths in two groups… 88 boys and 88 girls who have already demonstrated strong leadership capabilities in high school. The program aims to further develop those qualities. The object of Camp RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) is to provide an environment where future leaders will be exposed to the challenges of life, and hear practical information from leaders in business, military, government, religion, education and sports. The students will participate in workshop sessions in these professional areas and have an opportunity to spend time with the speakers in evening sessions.

The Camp: This camp is a very intense learning experience as well as a lot of fun. There will be plenty of physical activity with cabin competition in baseball, soccer, and rope course. The camp is held at the beautiful Manzano Mountain Retreat in Torreon, New Mexico. The camp is well equipped to provide opportunities in all kinds of outdoor activities including, hiking fishing, swimming, boating, rope challenges and mountaineering, in addition to daily lectures and workshops. It is an ideal opportunity for young people to meet their peers from all over New Mexico and Texas. Lifetime friendships are formed at these camps.

Who Is Eligible: Young people, male and female, between the ages of 15 and 18 years who will be entering either their junior or senior year in the Fall of 2007, are eligible to be nominated for RYLA. The students selected will be outstanding high school students, who will be entering either their junior or senior year in the Fall of 2007.We prefer that these young adults already have exhibited strong personal or leadership qualities or at least the potential to become leaders in school clubs, community activities or in an early work situation.

The Cost: Each seminar is one week in length and is funded by individual clubs. The Los Alamos Rotary Club will sponsor two students, one boy and one girl to Camp RYLA this summer. Investment for a RYLA seminar is kept to a minimum because the guest speakers volunteer their time. Seminars of this quality would normally cost many thousands of dollars to attend.  All food, accommodation and seminar costs are paid for by the sponsoring Rotary Club.  Any personal expenses are to be covered by the awardee, but the real cost to you is your time and participation.

How to Apply: The selection process is conducted by your local Rotary Club and involves submitting an application form available directly from the club and attending an interview. You can also download the application (using Adobe Acrobat) from the following website: http://www.rotary5520.org/ryla (and then click "Application" on the left header bar). Applications will be collected from Edwina Lieb on April 1st. Interviews will be scheduled in mid April.

Deadlines: Application deadline: 1 Apr 2007.

More Information: RYLA is a official activity of Rotary International. The program was first developed in New Zealand and Australia in 1959 to fulfill a need to recognize and develop outstanding young people. RYLA was later adopted by Rotary International and is now held throughout the world. RYLA programs are held in Asia, India, Africa, Europe, South America and North America.

Contact: Please contact Alison Walters, the Los Alamos Rotary Club RYLA Chairperson (662-6816; livukenjani@yahoo.com) for further information.