RYLA

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a leadership development program run by Rotary. While participants can be any age, most events focus on secondary school students, university students, or young professionals. RYLA events are typically 3–10 days long and include presentations, activities, and workshops that cover a variety of topics, including:

·         Leadership fundamentals and ethics

·         Communication skills

·         Problem solving and conflict management

·         Community and global citizenship

2015 RYLA thrill

It was a drizzly day but the views as we arrived at Ardeonaig were spectacular.  Situated in rural Perthshire on the south side of Loch Tay, Ardeonaig, run by the Abernethy Trust, is a hidden gem. The four of us from Falkirk, Jim and Kareen Cairns, Gillian and I were welcomed by some of the students who had attended the week and the boys could not have been more helpful or positive about their experience.  We were offered tea or coffee, given a grand tour of the building and the grounds before joining all the students for lunch.  The food on offer was great, if this was the standard all week, and we asked the boys who confirmed that it was, then there would have been no complaints!

After lunch the girls group arrived, unlike the boys they were quiet and subdued, seemingly the boys had been the same on the previous Saturday!  The boys did some amazing presentations about the week that had just past as well as giving some handy tips to the girls, who are now looking even more nervous!   The highlight of the afternoon is “The John Mair Award for Achievement”, awarded to the student, by their peers, who in their opinion has made the most progress or gained the most from the week, to our delight, Ryan Ingram, our Falkirk boy received this accolade!  I’ll leave it for Ryan to explain more and for Kay McGillvary to tell us how the girls got on when they visit the club in October.

Finally the visitors were given the chance to try some of the activities, Kareen went off to do some archery while Jim, Gillian and I gave the high ropes a go!

What a great day out, thanks to the RYLA team!