Juniors Katheryn Sommers, Branton Leazenby, Danielle Erickson (Not pictured), were accepted into the program after entering their application for the RYLA Camp. Photo by: Mrs. Mary Gifford
By Rebeca Lee
Three students were selected to have the opportunity to meet some community leaders and attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) conference which will take place in Tecumseh camp from April 19-21.
Throughout the months of December and January 2013, five students applied for the RYLA camp. For the application process, students that are either a sophomore or junior willing to attend, needed to fill out an application. They were asked questions regarding leadership positions, activities they are involved in, and why they believe they should attend this camp. After their form was turned in, it was then reviewed. In February, all five students were interviewed by the representatives of RYLA at school to make the final decision on who would attend. Junior Branton Leazenby he said, “The interview was pretty relaxed and it only lasted about 20 minutes.” The interview consisted of three members of RYLA, questioning the students further on why they wanted to go to RYLA camp. On March 18, Juniors Danielle Erickson, Branton Leazenby, and Kathryn Sommers received a letter in the mail saying they were the students chosen to take a part in RYLA camp. Sommers said, “It was sitting on the table at home. I opened [the letter] and started to read it. As my confused face read the paper it slowly turned to a smile.”
To discuss their trip, on April 15, 2013 these students were invited to lunch at Christos Banquet Center. They were picked up and left school at 11:50 a.m. and returned at 1:30. In this meeting they had the opportunity to meet community leaders.
All three students applied for the same reason; they were all intrigued by the idea of having the opportunity to attend a camp such as this. Erickson said, “I knew that it would be a great opportunity to help me grow as a person and a leader.” They all recognized they were getting the chance to work on their core leadership values and learn new strategies to help them grow into better leaders.
None of the students attending were told what activities are planned. They were only given the place of the destination and a list of items they must bring. In sixth grade both Leazenby and Erickson received the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. for the National Youth Leadership’s Conference. They each have been to several smaller camps that allowed them to learn other leadership traits and they have an idea of what to expect. For Sommers, this is her first type of leadership camp. She is a little unsure of what to expect but believes that she will learn many ways to be a leader and plans on applying what she learns to her everyday life
All three students have the same expectations that they will grow both as a person and as a leader. They appreciate that they were the ones selected for this learning opportunity. Leazenby said, “I was very excited that I was able to be picked for this prestigious event and out of the people that applied I was definitely glad that they picked me.”