The Rotary Club of Longmont sent five Longmont youth to Rotary Youth Leadership Awakening, or RYLA Camp. The students returned to share their experiences.
The RYLA Camp teaches youth “passion, reliance, determination, mental toughness, gratitude and compassion” while instilling them with the value of service before self, according to the camp’s website.
Five Longmont youth attended the camp this year and returned to share how much fun they had.
Lily, who attends Westview Middle School, said when the camp began she was really nervous. However, she quickly found welcoming people and started having fun. Her favorite project at camp was building a tower. It wasn’t the act of building the tower that stuck with Lily, it was the process.
Campers were asked to spend a determined amount of time devising a plan that included everyone’s thoughts and opinions in the process. The next task was to execute the plan without talking about it or changing it.
Lily learned the value of strong communication and the importance of building a good foundational plan before carrying out a task.
Jake learned to although there were times when he felt uncomfortable and wanted to shut down that it was not only important to be involved with others but to try to enjoy himself along the way.
“Do you wonder what creating hope in the world looks like? It’s right here,” said Tim Waters co-president of the Rotary Club of Longmont.
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