Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a training program for young students, run by Rotary International clubs and districts.
The students are selected by the schools to attend a student-run camp, with 9-10 students per cabin, working together to improve their leadership skills.
John Reusche, District Chair for the Boys Camp for RYLA for Rotary District 5220 spoke at a recent Madera Rotary meeting to inform the members about RYLA, and to share stories about the exceptional students that have attended the camps.
Reusche has been a Rotarian for 41 years, and has been involved in RYLA as a counselor since 1992. His wife, Sherri, is the Director for the Girls camp for District 5220.
Steve Mortimer has served as the RYLA chair for the Madera Rotary for 20 years, and he sets up the interviews for selection for the eligible students who have demonstrated leadership in their high schools.
At the RYLA camps, there are special activity groups, which could involve engineering, entertainment, newspaper, yearbook, video, cabin competitions, and camp council. All students find a niche within the program, expand on that particular focus, and have a great time of demonstrating their leadership skills.
Reusche talked about the bonding that occurs at the camp over a short period of time.
“These students are connected for life,” Reusche said. “The leaders that come out of this program are really the ones that run our country. And I’m very proud of that. Without fail, every year we get letters, comments, emails, and calls from parents at the end of the camp wondering what we possibly did to their students that have created this new, absolutely fabulous personality in their students.”
The camp focuses on the dynamic abilities of each one of these students. As they work together for common goals, they accomplish what they set out to accomplish. It’s all done exclusively by the students.
Reusche encouraged the Rotarians in the group to be involved in the interview process. He shared some stories of students who had particularly memorable interviews, and then later contributed to the groups in strong, supportive ways.
“These kids have bonded,” he said. He explained that through their bonding they had times of competitive activities, such as cabin competitions, where they root for their team and score points.
“By Sunday night it’s like an Olympic event,” he said.
One activity, called strength bombardment, is where a student sits in front of the others, and the other students take three minutes to write nothing but positive things about the student. Many of them have not had much support and encouragement from others, and this exercise helps them.
“Some of these students have never had that pat on the back or any support from family,” Reusche said.
The young people selected for this program are top students, and existing leaders at their high schools already. They are selected by counselors, sometimes staff. Then, two or three Rotarians conduct interviews, asking relevant questions. However, they rely on the schools to introduce the caliber because they know their students.
A special speaker, Roger Crawford, has been a part of the District 5220 RYLA camp since 1982, and has been an amazing speaker and inspiration for the students over the years. His message is how to approach leadership, how to become a leader, and how to deal with difficulties in being a leader.
The counselors at the camp are there to provide limited guidance, as the camp is entirely student-run.
“I usually do some specific leadership training,” Reusche said. “But they literally run the camp. That’s the hardest thing. We counselors are all type A personalities that do this. Try to tell a type A person to back off.
“We have engineering; we have newspaper; we have yearbook; we have video,” he said. “We have cabin competitions, in which all of them compete, but somebody has to coordinate that. So, it’s like a parks and rec kind of thing. And, of course, there is camp council, which has one representative from each of the cabin groups they select on the first day.”
The camp usually runs through Presidents Day weekend. Madera Rotary sends RYLA campers from Madera South and Liberty high schools. Madera Sunrise sends campers from Madera and Torres high schools.
Each of the 48 clubs in the Central California District has the opportunity to send about four students, each, and the clubs usually cover the tuition for the students.