Pasadena Rotary Club Sponsors 10 High School Students for a Weekend at Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Camp

On the weekend of April 17, over 300 high school juniors from the Rotary District 5300 gathered at Thousand Pines Camp in Crestline, CA for a 2 and half-day camp entitled RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards).

The Pasadena Rotary Club interviewed candidates from public and private high schools, and sponsored ten local junior high students to participate. These students included: Emily O’Connor, La Salle High School; Juharah Worku, Marshall Fundamental High School; Giselle Salas, Blair High School; and from John Muir High School were Adrian Valencia, Anthony Izaguirre, Diego Obregon, Elsy Alvarado, Kylee Sharp, Melissa Herrera, and Prakash Dass. The weekend included activities such as the Trust Fall, Decision Dilemma, Cultural Walk, Egg Drop, and a surprise dance. The teens learned about working in a group, cultural diversity, and discovered their own leadership style and how to work with others of various styles.

There were over 50 Rotarians there setting the example, leading groups, leading activities, and educating the teens about community service. According to Pasadena Rotary Club RYLA Co-Chair Albert Hernandez, “It was our goal that each teen learn about them selves and go back to their high school and implement projects that would benefit their community, in the name of Rotary”.

Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide to provide humanitarian service and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. It is comprised of 1.2 million members working in more than 33,000 clubs in 200 countries and geographic regions.

The Pasadena Rotary Club has over 200 members that meet at a weekly at the University Club Pasadena with amazing, dedicated members contributing to the well-being and growth of the community, region, and world. Pasadena Rotary will host a fundraiser on 5/21 open to the public to help raise funds to support its programs, some include: Happy Feet (providing shoes at the start of a school year for PUSD elementary school students); Adopt-A-School; Done In A Day; Toy Drive; RYLA -Teen Leadership; Rotoract; Interact; and Teachers of Excellence to name a few. More information on Rotary Club of Pasadena visit www.pasadenarotary.com or (626) 440-0908.