President Peter's Musings

Good evening everybody,

 

I enjoyed the pictures from our Regal Breakfast on Tuesday. Congratulations to our very own Queen Megyn for coming up with the suggestion. As 'Queen', she really stole the show with her very royal attire.

We are hearing a lot about Rotary Youth Programs, lately, especially with the imminent arrival of our inbound Exchange Student. Please read on to learn about some of the Rotary Youth Programs that our Club is involved with.

 

Rotary Clubs sponsor young people in the development of skills in the fields of communication, leadership, road safety/driver awareness, resilience and self esteem and in furthering the career aspirations in the subjects of mathematics and science.

 

Our Club's Youth Director is Past President, Judy Clark.  Judy does a fine job coordinating all these programs.

 

Designed for students 15-17 years of age, who are interested in travelling and experiencing a new culture. This is achieved by spending a year studying overseas, living with Rotary volunteer host families, in one of 12 participating countries.

Designed for Year 11 students passionate about science. Students will have the opportunity to visit some of the country's leading scientific facilities and speak to many of our top scientists, enabling an informed career choice. Not to mention the chance to meet like minded people, establish personal relations and life long friendships; kind of like Rotary, I guess.

Interact is Rotary at School, being for 14-18 year olds. Rotaract is Rotary for young adults, 18-30 year olds, and is based in the community. These two programs are the stepping stones to Rotary. Members are a part of a Club for young people, who want to join together and tackle issues in the community. It's possible to carry out hands-on projects, make international connections, develop leadership skills and have FUN.

Youth road trauma is a community based problem that needs a whole of community response. The RYDA Program targets students in Years 11 and 12, who are new to driving or about to start. The "big five" road safety issues are addressed. These being, Speeding, DUI, Fatigue, Seatbelts and Distractions, as well as the importance of driving as a social responsibility.

RYLA is a 7 day residential leadership seminar for aspiring leaders aged 18-25 years. Participants will be exposed to a lot of self development through mechanisms such as, reflection, team work, sport and outdoor activities. There is the opportunity to develop leadership, communication and problem solving skills, practice new behaviours and make life long friends, all the while challenging belief systems and values.

RYPEN provides the opportunity for a group of 15-17 year olds to develop valuable leadership skills. The program runs over a weekend, where participants will engage with like-minded people, while having fun and learning new skills in fields such as problem solving and public speaking. The Program allows these skills to be put to practical use, through debate and physical activity.

 

 

Our aim as a vibrant and successful Club, is to place quality students into our Youth Programs, because after all, our Youth are the leaders of the future.  By participating in our Rotary Youth Programs, we will produce not only quality leaders, but Rotarians also, as they mature.

 

Have a great weekend, everyone.  Once again, a big thanks goes to Bernie and the rest of the Board and Members for keeping the Club running in my absence. For those of you who are attending next week's Meeting at the University, I look forward to seeing you there.