District 5840

In 1975-76, Floyd Harriman of the Rotary Club of Pleasanton was district governor. He asked W. Dain Higdon, a Past District Governor, to select a committee to determine the possibility of establishing a Rotary Youth Leadership Award Seminar in our Rotary District. A committee was selected which included Rotarians from several clubs. At the time, Dr. Duncan Wimpress, a Rotarian and a director of the San Antonio downtown club, was president of Trinity University. He was approached and agreed to host the meeting on Trinity’s campus. Our first RYLA was May 14-16, 1976, with 55 high school students in attendance.

The RYLA program is designed for outstanding high school students to help develop qualities of leadership skills and good citizenship, as well as to emphasize the advantages of the free enterprise system. Young men and women, selected by their local Rotary clubs, are invited to participate in leadership training meetings organized and run by Rotarians.

In 1996, the RI Board of Directors adopted the following minimum standards for the core curriculum of every RYLA:

Fundamentals of leadership
Ethics of positive leadership
Importance of communication skills in effective leadership
Problem-solving and conflict-management
What Rotary is and what it does for the local community
Building self-confidence and self-esteem
Elements of community and global citizenship

Open to more than 150 outstanding representatives of clubs throughout the District, the 2006 Seminar will be held in January at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels.

Clubs are encouraged to contact the local high schools early in the school year about the RYLA program to insure that the truly outstanding and deserving students will be accorded the honor of attending this significant event.

For more information, or if you would like to share a RYLA story, please contact District Chairman Ron Greenberg with the Rotary Club of Alamo Heights.

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