Rotarians have always taken a sincere interest in helping to prepare the next generation – with programs and projects that help with health and education and lead the way to world peace and understanding. Beyond this fact, young people are also the future of our organization if we choose for Rotary to survive and thrive beyond our lifetime. Through our Rotary youth programs, we can not only provide service that is the keystone of our organization but also to develop relationships and provide exposure to our wonderful organization and the ideals of “Service Above Self” to the next generation.

To briefly review our District’s youth programs:

Interact is a Rotary sponsored club for ages 12 to 18, typically at a high school or middle school, although it is not limited to a single school.

Rotaract is a Rotary sponsored club for ages 18 to 30. Rotaractors are involved in community and international service projects, as well as professional development and leadership training, and are good partners in service with their sponsoring Rotary clubs.

Rotary Youth Exchange – RYE is the leading international student exchange program in the world, and our District has sent many students out to foreign countries each year and hosts students from around the globe to spend a year of high school in our communities.

RYLA – Rotary Youth Leadership Awards is a premium weekend leadership camp for high school freshmen. Every club in our District is encouraged to send at least one high school freshman from their local community to benefit from the “life-changing experience” offered at RYLA.

Youth Service also includes the many projects that individual clubs undertake to serve young people in our communities – such projects as the Dictionary/Atlas projects, other reading and literacy projects, scholarship programs, backpack programs, to name just a few. Youth Service intersects the Vocational Avenue of Service in such programs as Career Coaching, Speech and Music Contests, and the Ethics Initiative.

You can tell that there is a wide range of programs and projects included under the Youth Service umbrella. Virtually every club in our District in involved in one or more of these youth programs, for the benefit of their community.

Let us know what special project your club is doing for Youth Service Month.