According to the Rotary International website: “Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a leadership program coordinated by Rotary Clubs across the globe. Each year, thousands of young people participate in this program. Participants are chosen for their leadership potential. The format of events varies from district to district, but commonly takes the form of a seminar, camp, or workshop to discuss leadership skills and to learn those skills through practice.” And as Gwen Kiser, current Portage Club President, noted: “The camp will feature outstanding speakers and workshops focusing on decision-making, critical thinking, communicating effectively, ethics, career development, public service, contemporary problems, and other issues challenging leaders of today and tomorrow."
On April 25th the special guests of the Portage Rotary Club for Student Day were PHS juniors: Evie Tsarnas and Taylor Searcy. They were the Portage High School delegates to the 25th annual Rotary Youth Leadership Award Camp. This year is was held at Camp Tecumseh in Brookston, In. along with over 100 other delegates from the other clubs within District 6540. Accompanying Evie and Taylor to the club meeting were John Zach, PHS Assistant Principal, and Jennifer Symer, Guidance Counselor.
It was quite evident from the start of their presentation that the students were very excited about their weekend and came away with many stories of new friends, and learning what Rotary means locally and internationally. The working as teams on several projects also left a great impression on the ladies on the breadth and scope of some of the community and worldly needs of many less fortunate. One thing that they also expressed was an interest in possibly starting an Interact Club. Interact is Rotary International’s service club for young people ages 12 to 18. Interact clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance, but they are self-governing and self-supporting, and of course the Portage Club is ready and willing to support their efforts to make this a reality. What a great way for these young leaders to spread the word about Rotary. And not just by word of mouth but by action, by positive efforts to make this world better for all the inhabitants. Once again we saw great evidence of the positive influence that all of the teachers and counselors are having on the students of PHS, the future leaders of our great community and country. To all of you at PHS we say: thank you.
The Portage Club meets every Wednesday at 12:15 PM in the upstairs recreation room of Miller’s Assisted Living Facility and is open to all active or retired business and professional individuals.
Photo left to right: Jennifer Symer, PHS Guidance Counselor, Taylor Searcy, Evie Tsarnas, John Zack, PHS Assistant Principal, Glenn Yerby, President Elect.