Prog Chair Steve Wight and 2013 RYLA Participants Gabi Stone and Katie Merrill

 

Guests: Bill Strauss  (Varuolo Cole), Gabi Stone  (RYLA - speaker)  (Hart, Wight), Katie Merrill  (RYLA - speaker)  (Hart, Wight), Mr. Stone  (parent), Jen Merrill  (parent)

 

Members We Missed:  Blair, Dennis, Dunham, Mann, Murphy

 

Dan Hart noted that a third RYLA participant from Telstar, Liam Gallagher, could not attend and will be invited to come to a future meeting.

 

Gabi and Katie gave brief rundowns of their RYLA experiences, and then answered a number of questions from Rotarians.  It was a very positive experience for both girls, learning how to handle challenges of a different type than they had ever been faced with before, and working with students from other towns that they were meeting for the first time.  Some common threads were finding ways to communicate under challenging conditions (e.g., simulated conditions of being blind, deaf, or mute) and learning different ways of thinking about leadership -- there are times to step back and let others step in, as well as times to step forward.  An interesting aside was Gabi's mention of being so eager to apply to RYLA that after picking up the application she filled out the paperwork during the next class!

 

~ Walter