Transcript Each year, thousands of young people throughout the world take part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program. Young people chosen.

Each year, thousands of young people throughout the world take
part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program.
Young people chosen for their leadership potential attend this
conference, funded entirely by Rotary, to learn and enhance
leadership skills through practice.
Rotary Districts 5440 and 5450 (Denver area, Northern Colorado,
Wyoming, Eastern Nebraska and Western Idaho) have run Rocky
Mountain RYLA conferences since 1986. These all-expenses
paid five-day conferences bring together boys and girls from our
districts – but also from as far away as New Jersey, Texas,
California, and even Russia(!) to learn to become better leaders.
Objectives of RYLA
• To assist young people in
becoming responsible and
effective leaders
• To encourage continued and
stronger leadership of youth by
youth
• To recognize outstanding young
people already providing
leadership to their communities
• To help young people begin a
lifetime of service to others,
hopefully to return later – as great
Rotarians
RYLA helps teenagers learn
leadership skills through
experiential activities, incredible
speakers, small group discussions,
large group presentations, while
building life-long friendships.
After attending RYLA, over 120
apply to become Junior Counselors,
vying for the 20 available spots.
Weeks after RYLA, parents have
said, “I tried for 16 years to make
my child into a good person –
without success. You did it in ONE
WEEK! How did you do that?”
The answer is “RYLA Magic”.
Part of this magic is having no preexpectations, which is why we
carefully avoid telling applicants
exactly what we do.
Rocky Mountain RYLA is
one of only three RYLA
organizations in the world
that includes both RYLA
and Young RYLA.
RYLA (or Senior RYLA) is for High
School Sophomores and Juniors.
Young RYLA is for current 7th graders.
Young RYLA is an action-packed
program of activities that help
build confidence and leadership
skills (problem solving games,
challenge course, zip line, skits,
group discussions and team
building activities).
Although RYLA continues to be our
flagship program, slots for 7th graders at
Young RYLA are guarded as carefully
as diamond bracelets.
Who is involved in
Rocky Mountain RYLA?
• Rotary Districts 5440 and 5450 combine efforts to produce RYLA and
Young RYLA.
• 110 of the 120 Rotary Clubs are participating in 2012.
• 215 Rotary RYLA Reps recruit, interview and select their 480 charges.
• 100 Rotarians and Junior Counselors manage RYLA and Young RYLA.
• 50 Rotarians enjoy one fabulous week as Senior Counselors.
• Approximately 40 Rotarians come to visit – spending a day to see one of
the most amazing and invigorating Rotary programs in existence.
What does RYLA cost?
Rotary clubs pay the $450
conference fee for each
participant – the same for
RYLA and Young RYLA.
Every Rotary club is
guaranteed 2 RYLA slots
and 2 Young RYLA slots
(if they wish to use them).
Where & When is it?
Senior RYLA is held at
the YMCA of the Rockies
in Estes Park, Colorado in
July each year.
Go to www.rmRYLA.org
for exact dates
(rmRYLA is short for
Rocky Mountain RYLA)
Where & When is it?
Young RYLA is held in
Larkspur, Colorado (south
of Denver) in late July
each year.
Go to www.rmRYLA.org
for exact dates.
500 High School students
apply to attend RYLA.
We have 240 RYLA slots.
400 7th graders apply for Young
RYLA.
We now have 240 Young RYLA
slots – twice as many as in 2011.
How do students apply?
Rocky Mountain RYLA has the only known
fully electronic RYLA registration system,
to manage one of the largest RYLA programs
on earth.
The student:
• Reads about RYLA/Young RYLA on www.rmRYLA.org
• Completes the on-line application February 15 - April 30
• Prints it, gets parent signature, brings it to the Rotary interview
The Rotary club’s RYLA Rep:
• Finds and reviews applications on www.rmRYLA.org
• Decides which applicants to sponsor
• Approves those applications on the www.rmRYLA.org web site
• Ensures that the applicant(s) have safe rides to and from camp
Their Lives are Changed Forever
If you, as a Rotarian, have yet to visit RYLA or Young RYLA, please do.
It might just change your life too!