Youth Service is Rotary’s 5th Avenue of Service — alongside Community, International, Vocational and Club Service. Youth Service recognises the importance of empowering our youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) and Handicamp. Some of the youth programs our club is involved in include:
Rotaract — a service club for young people aged between 18 and 30. Rotaract clubs are sponsored by a Rotary club but are managed and run largely independently. Rotaractors get involved in many of the same projects as Rotary, and Rotaract is hopefully a pathway into Rotary.
Interact — a club for high-school children aged between about 13 and 18. It is designed for the members to have fun, while contributing to their community and learning about the world. Interact clubs should organise at least 2 projects each year — one local and one international.
RYLA — a leadership development program run by Rotary. In our district, RYLA is for young people aged between 18 and 28, and the program includes presentations, team building activities, leadership development, personal awareness, problem solving, conflict resolution, etc. In our district, RYLA is a week long camp in January. Most activities on RYLA are facilitated by young people who have completed RYLA in the past few years and also facilitated at RYPEN. We aim to have at least 4 or 5 new facilitators for each RYLA, supported by 4 or 5 more experienced facilitators and the head fac.
RYPEN — a weekend camp for high-school students aged between 14 and 17. The aim of RYPEN is “fun with purpose” — helping to develop their skills in areas such as team work, problem solving and self-awareness. In our district, RYPEN is run twice a year in May and September. RYPEN facilitators are past RYLArians who displayed the additional qualities needed to be a facilitator. Being a facilitator is part of their development with leadership, team work, etc. We aim to have at least 5 new facilitators for each RYPEN camp. They are supported by 5 more experienced facilitators and the head fac.
Rotary Youth Exchange – is a way to develop young people’s cultural awareness, independence, and international understanding. Students attend school and live with host families.
Rotary WA Driver Awareness (RWADE) — is a program run at the RAC Test Track in conjunction with the WA Police and the RAC and encouraged by groups such as the Road Safety Council, Main Roads and the Education Department. The program aims to keep young people alive on our roads by teaching awareness of road safety before they get their drivers licence.
National Youth Science Forum — is a 12 day residential program for students entering year 12 who are passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The program aims to encourage participants to get involved in STEM career, and to show them different career options. It also helps to build their interpersonal skills, leadership and communication. It fosters interest in national and global issues and emphasises the need to have interests in sports, art and music as well as science. NYSF is held in January, and district 9465 sends about 15 participants each year.
Handicamp — is a week long camp in January each year, for young people aged between 18 and 35 with a disability. Campers are assisted by staff and buddies. Both the buddies and campers grow through new experiences, with the buddies learning greater understanding of the needs and challenges of others. Some activities on Handicamp include archery, abseiling, water sports, karaoke, bowling and a visit to the zoo and Adventure world. Grand Cinemas generously sponsors a number of Handicamp participants each year