Last Week's RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards)
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Presentation Last Week
We were excited to have the students from Texarkana who attended this year's RYLA camp (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) individually share with us what their RYLA camp experience personally meant to them and how they were able to grow and learn. Their stories were very touching and heartfelt. Amongst other valuable lessons, many of them expressed learning to open up and trust one another in a way they hadn't been able to before. Andi Darby, a Wilbur Smith Rotarian and District RYLA Board Member, helped to lead this group during their camp experience, and the students portrayed gratefulness to both she and the other valuable camp leaders. We, too, are grateful for Andi's and the other leaders' interest and dedication to impacting these youth in a powerful way. The focus of RYLA is to identify and develop leadership skills in young people, help them to discover and build upon their inner strengths and to build one another up. Our Rotary District held its first RYLA camp in 1996 and has since influenced the lives of over 1,000 young people.