High School Students Attend

Rotary Youth Leadership Weekend

Maxwell Kate and Brittany Hutchison told a recent Newtown Rotary Club meeting about their experiences at the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Weekend (RYLA) at the Trumbull Marriott with 40 other students from various schools in southern Connecticut.

The RYLA weekend is sponsored by Rotary District 7980, which encompasses the four lower counties of Connecticut from Greenwich to Stonington.

The program is designed to develop qualities of leadership and good citizenship among the young people of the state. The object is to encourage and assist selected youth leaders and potential leaders in methods of responsibility and effective voluntary youth leadership by providing them with training experiences with subjects they normally do not encounter in their regular schooling.

The program agenda included such topics as fundamentals of leadership, group dynamics, time management, morality, self-esteem, public speaking, and the role of youth in the community. Experts in the field conducted all sessions.

Both Newtown students are very involved with the school’s extra curricular activities. Maxwell is a member of the Rotary sponsored, service oriented Interact Club.

Both students were very positive about what they learned over the weekend and were happy to now have many new friends from different parts of the state.

Two RYLA weekends are sponsored by the Rotary each year in November and March. Newtown Rotary sponsors two students each session. Sophomores or juniors at Newtown High School interested in attending such a program should see their guidance counselor.