RYLA 2023 and Recruiting Rotarian Volunteers - We Need Your Help!

The District 5400 RYLA committee is excited to get the ball rolling on another great year of our beloved youth leadership program! And we are asking for your help!
 
For those of you that aren't familiar with RYLA:
Every summer, 50-100 teenagers from around Idaho share a long weekend at the College of Southern Idaho for an intensive four day leadership camp. High school students who are incoming juniors to outgoing seniors are sponsored by Rotary clubs to attend the camp, with the Rotary club paying the sponsorship cost. This makes RYLA accessible to all of Idaho's youth rather than just those with the financial resources to attend. The Rotary Youth Leaders in Action camp, RYLA, is "For Youth, By Youth", meaning the camp is planned and led by students who have previously attended. The camp is experiential; activities are hands-on and interactive, we avoid classroom style lectures. 
 
The leadership training focuses on everyday leadership. To lead, you must believe in your own abilities. Being a leader means you work with others; seeing the world through their eyes. Through this process, many lifelong friendships have been made. The RYLA experience is focused on guiding the students to discover a strong sense of confidence in oneself and expressing empathy for others, which is driven through the strong supportive environment created during the long weekend. RYLA allows these one hundred teenagers to identify and celebrate their abilities and instills the values of Rotary into the next generation of leaders and community members.
 
Here's how you can help this amazing program continue on:
Are you a Rotarian that is interested in supporting youth programs and has a few hours of time each month that could be dedicated to helping the RYLA committee? The RYLA committee is in need of some Rotarian volunteer support! Here's how you can help:
 
1) Join the RYLA planning committee: If you're super interested in the program, contact Ethan Alexander at aethan6@gmail.com or Saeid Rezaii at saeid@galaxymc.com to inquire about joining the committee. This involves monthly planning meetings and varies from a few hours per month to a few hours per week as RYLA gets closer. This may also include attending RYLA in July/August if you're available and interested.
 
2) Help network with clubs and Rotarians about RYLA: Every year there is a big task that the RYLA committee has in communicating with clubs about RYLA sponsorships and gathering information about which clubs are sponsoring, how many sponsorships they can offer, and helping each club know the details of this year's RYLA (sponsorship cost, dates, etc.). If you are willing to help by emailing or calling club presidents and club youth program chairs to help RYLA recruit youth participants and take on this big communication effort, we could use your help! If you're willing, contact Ethan Alexander at aethan6@gmail.com or Saeid Rezaii at saeid@galaxymc.com.
 
3) Spread the word at your club meetings and to any incoming juniors and seniors you know that would benefit from attending RYLA (ALL incoming juniors and seniors in the district that you know!!). The RYLA 2023 application will be opening in the coming months, and the more applicants we can get, the better!! 
 
Keep an eye on our website at this link, especially the information on the Rotarians page for RYLA 2023 details.
 
Thank you for all your support to keep this amazing program as one of the best RYLA camps out there!!
 
 
Ethan Alexander
District 5400 Chair
RYLA 2023