Category Archives: Youth Services

On the Rotaract Road

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Rotary District 7980 has 10 Rotaract Clubs, which will all receive an Official DG Visit within the next 60 days. Of our 10 Rotaract Clubs; 7 are University based and 3 are Community based.

Members of Rotaract are part of a global community of young adults taking action for positive change. Rotaract is a club for adults ages 18-30 that meets twice a month to exchange ideas, plan activities and projects, and socialize. While Rotary clubs serve as sponsors, Rotaract clubs decide how to organize and run their club and what projects and activities to carry out.

“Rotaract” stands for “Rotary in Action”, although the name originally comes from a combination of “Rotary” and “Interact” (International + Action), the high school level program created by Rotary International in 1962.

Rotaract originally began as a Rotary International youth program in 1968 at Charlotte North Rotary Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, and has grown into a major Rotary-sponsored organization of over 9,539 clubs spread around the world and 219,397 members

The purpose of Rotaract is to provide an opportunity for young men and women to enhance the knowledge and skills that will assist them in personal development, to address the physical and social needs of their communities, and to promote better relations between all people worldwide through a framework of friendship and service.

Want more information on Rotaract? Contact: Justin Phillips or Guy Casella

Greater New Haven Rotaract Club Road Race was run today

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The Greater New Haven Rotaract Club held their 2nd annual Road Race this morning at the North Haven Middle School. The event featured a 1 mile fun run and a 5K race which went off at 9:30 AM and 10 AM respectively.

The weather cooperated nicely for the event organizers as it was unseasonably warm for the 2nd week of November.

The primary focus of the races was to raise awareness for childhood obesity. A majority of the proceeds will benefit underprivileged children who want to participate in youth sports. A portion of the profits will also go towards the food bank.

The Greater New Haven Rotaract Club, sponsored by the North Haven Rotary, is open to ages 21 to 30 in the area. The only other Community based Rotaract club in Connecticut is in New London.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) held @ Camp Hazen in Chester this weekend

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Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a leadership development program run by our district. While participants can be any age, our typically events focus on High School students. RYLA events are typically 3 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

Youth Exchange Chair Justin Phillips, RYLA Chair Dave Ullman as well as 10 Advanced RYLA graduates faciltated the weekend long program at Camp Hazen in Chester Connecticut  which just concluded about an hour ago. Rotary Clubs from District 7980 sponsored 27 young adults to the RYLA this life changing program. Located on 150 acres on Cedar Lake in Chester, Connecticut, Camp Hazen YMCA provides positive youth camping experiences for over 1500 boys and girls each year from throughout the state.

Participants slept in cabins, battled spiders, engaged in team exercises, enjoyed a bonfire, made new lifetime friends, grew,  learned a considerable amount about inequities in society and presented team projects.

Interact/Rotaract Assembly held at Notre Dame in West Haven today

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Now for something completely different……

This year Youth Services Chair Justin Philips challenged his team to come up with creative ways to cross pollinate some of the youth programs in such as way that kids and young adults could gain valuable insight into all that Rotary does in working with youth. The first innovative program right out of the gate was combining the Interact and Rotaract Assemblies into a single time and location, which was held today at Notre Dame High School in West Haven Connecticut today.

About 100 young people and a dozen or so District volunteers (not as young) gathered for this very special event which featured some common sessions as well as age appropriate facilitated discussions in breakout sessions.

The event was well planned and executed and the energy was fabulous. It makes me proud to be serving a district with so many dedicated volunteers who commit themselves to giving back to young people.

Inbound Youth Exchange Picnic in Monroe 09-08-2013

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The Monroe Rotary Club hosted a nice picnic for the D7980 Inbound Exchange Students today at the YMCA facility in Monroe. The picnic was attended by the Inbound Youth Exchange Students, District Youth Services Leadership and many of the Host Families. Host families provide room and board and share their lives with exchange students, involving them in family, community, and cultural activities.

Rotary Youth Exchange is the opportunity of a lifetime for the more than 8,000 students who participate each year. By sharing our culture and helping students to embracing a new one, we help foster global understanding.

It was a very nice day for a picnic as the food, weather and company were perfect.

Attention Clubs: Sue Horton wants to remind you that the deadline for Outbound Youth Exchange is quickly coming approaching. Contact Sue for more details.

Multi-district Success Seminar was held in Cromwell Connecticut today

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The Multi-district Success Seminar was held in Cromwell Connecticut today and was attended by just over 100 attendees from 11 districts as far away as New Jersey. The seminar is sponsored by Zone 32 and was organized by PDG Alan Hurst (Rotary Coordinator) , his Assistant Rotary Coordinators and Delores Morgano from the East Hampton Rotary Club.

The Success Seminar featured informative sessions on:

Public Image
The Rotary Foundation
Membership
The New Rotary Website
Rotary Club Central
Youth Services

The seminar was kicked off by our very own PDG Ernie Luise introducing Incoming Rotary Directory Julie Phelps.

Geographically Cromwell CT is still part of District 7980 although we don’t currently have a club there. We are looking to establish a new club in Cromwell if anyone is interested in helping us getting one off the ground.