This year, our normal venue for RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) was closed for refurbishment so we took part in our Districts scheme which allowed us to send four participants rather than the usual two.
So when it came time to hear back from the students this week, we were joined by Abbey, George, Isobel and Sinead from John Spendluffe Technology College in Alford.
The weekend is designed to help secondary school children develop team working and leadership skills, so it was gratifying that, without prompting, our guests explained one of their biggest takeaways was how easily a group of strangers could collaborate to achieve a common goal.
All seemed to appreciate the opportunity, believing it to be worthwhile and enjoyable. Naturally, they found being away from home with strangers intimidating at first, but being willing to break out of their comfort zones is a valuable skill in itself.
As a Club we thank Abbey, George, Isobel and Sinead for representing us at RYLA and hope that the experiences they had will help them in their remaining time in education and beyond.