It took two Past District Governors to introduce our speaker.  Don LaBarge said he had known Sherry a long time.  When he was District Governor in 2008-09, Sherry was his District Secretary.  He said he was going to read her "short" bio and let the papers he was holding drop and it was a long strip of connected sheets that reached to the floor.  John Pennypacker took over saying that when he was District Governor, Sherry travelled with him when he visited clubs as she was in line to follow him as DG.  One of the facts he learned about her was that she has served as Rotary Club President five times.

 

Sherry began her presentation asking some RYLA trivia questions.  She asked if anyone knew why the "A" stands for Awards.  Ron Thompson answered correctly when he said it was because all the youth attending as delegates are there as a result of Rotary Clubs sponsoring their attendance.  She asked if anyone knew where RYLA started.  Jeanie Morgan knew it had started in Australia.  Sherry provided more details about that.  A Festival of Youth was held in Queensland Australia in 1959.  The next year the first RYLA was held.  It was formally adopted and recognized by Rotary International in 1972.,

 

Sherry said she has been involved a number of years.  Her first year she rode to the camp on the Boy Scout Camp Bus, which she said had no shocks.  She said that was fun!

 

District 5495 has three RYLA camps.  

Camp Ponderosa has an array of Activities.  The delegates arrive about 2:00 PM for check in where they are assigned to dorms.  There are no co-ed dorms.  Students are separated in their assignments from others in their own school.  This allows each participant to be more fully aware of themselves and not subject to peer pressure.  They have an icebreaker, followed by a motivational speaker and they participate in a "true colors"exercise where students identify their own personality traits and gain understanding of traits of other participants.  This understanding enables better and more considerate communication between participants through the rest of the weekend.

 

Saturday is very full.  They have an indoor activity where ethics is the focus.  They learn about Leadership.  One of the Saturday activities is Stand Up/Speak Up - an activity to take the fear out of public speaking.  The youth are encouraged to be themselves.  The weekend is very student-driven.

 

Outside activities involve being on teams named for wherever country the Youth Exchange Student on their team is from.  They play volleyball.  The get to do a climbing tower.  They get to go on a zip line  Sherry say that is a real kick.  Colleen was at the last RYLA Ponderosa in October.  The weather was bad so they were unable to do the tower.

 

They do shuffleboard.  There is a shipwreck.  They have to get th whole team on it.  These are all team-building activities.

 

Saturday night they have a big dance and the teams do one-act plays that last 10 minutes or less about social issues.  Some of the best in Sherry's memory were one about killing mother nature and another about immigration.  

 

When they have to say their good byes, they are all sad to be leaving their new friends.  They have learned to be themselves, with strengthened character.  They understand they are capable of being leaders.  All have experienced personal growth.  There are lots of stories.  

 

Sherry remembered one young lady a number of years ago.  The attended as a sophomore in high school.  She was from a disfunctional family.  She was ready to commit suicide.  A counsellor talked her into RYLA.  She got involved in high school Interact.  She went to college back east where she formed a Rotaract Club.  She is now married with children.

 

Who qualifies to attend?  She asks Rotary Clubs to interview those hoping to be sponsored to attend RYLA.  The students fill out their applications on line.  The cost is $400 for each sponsored youth to attend.

 

It would be awesome if every student could go, but there are more kids than money.  This year, Mesa West sent 14 students to Ponderosa, and five to Pinerock.  Ten of the fourteen who went to Ponderosa were members of Interact.

 

Sherry encourages Rotarians to visit the camps when they are in session.  There are lots of opportunities to volunteer to help.  Colleen Coons encouraged members to volunteer to observe the changes in the lives of those who attend.

 

Mel Taunt was the first RYLA Chair.  He was followed by Pam Cohen.  Pam asked all members who have been to RYLA to stand.  A significant number did.

 

During the pandemic, a virtual RYLA was held and the participating students found it to be worthwhile.  

 

Any student can attend.  There is no restriction preventing children of Rotarians from participating.  Sherry reinforced the reason students are separated from their familiar groups when they arrive.  It eliminates cliques.  No one dominates.  There is more equal participation.  Visit rotary5495.org. and or Google RYLA5495.