This summer, Amie Garcia, 11, participated in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) at Keystone College. She was selected from a pool of applications from across northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA). 

RYLA is an intensive leadership program for sophomores, who have shown leadership in their community. The program is run by Rotary, an organization that works on humanitarian projects all over the world and teaches leadership skills to kids from NEPA. 

While there, Garcia created an eight-page paper that showcased everything they did in the program. This includes completing icebreaker activities, learning new dances, meeting guest speakers, and going to a homecoming-type dance.

According to Garcia, they learned leadership skills in an environment much like a regular camp. There, they were forced out of their comfort zone.

“It taught me you can have an amazing experience if you remain enthusiastic. I got to learn about the other schools and ideas for their Interact clubs that I hadn’t heard before,” said Garcia.

She was told about the program while participating in the Interact Club, run by Ms. Moira Loughman, which helps students learn leadership skills while encouraging the power of “Service Above Self.” In the club, students participate in community service projects in our local area. 

Loughman expressed, “Interact is a community service-oriented club. We’re all about public service and humanitarian and social issues. The idea is we don’t always need to raise money to help out.”

Interact runs food drives and does public service announcements for fresh water and sanitation. They have been known to raise money and awareness for the international End Polio Now campaign, which Rotary is a founding partner of, the Pink Flocking campaign, and many more organizations. At the end of the year, profits raised from different activities throughout the year, such as candy sales, get donated to local and international fundraisers. 

“We supported the Women’s Resource Center of Monroe County, food and clothing initiatives for Stroudsburg School District students, Rotary’s humanitarian relief in Ukraine, and the Rotary Disaster Relief Fund,” said Ms. Loughman.  

Club members have opportunities to fulfill community service requirements, listen to guest speakers to learn about different topics and skills, and more. 

Garcia believes Interact provided her with amazing opportunities, such as the RYLA program, and it does the same for all of its members.

Her message to sophomores in Interact, and those who would like to join, is, “I  encourage any sophomore who is involved with Interact to apply to RYLA. It might seem scary but, once you’re there, it’s a whole different experience.”

If you’re interested in joining the Interact club, you can talk to Ms. Loughman through her email ([email protected]) or join the Google Classroom with the code: PFPLJX6