RYLA students share their experiences at June conference. From l. to r. RYLA Chair LouAnn Jendro, Andrew Salois, Shakira Kawuba, Jillian Gomes, Rachael Doyle, Paige Dame, and Club President Chuck Moran.

The 2018 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) attendees were the guest speakers at Dracut Rotary Club’s annual RYLA Night on October 30th. They had been selected by Dracut Rotary to attend RYLA in March. High School sophomores  from suburban Boston, Metro West and central Massachusetts gathered at Fitchburg State University for the 3-day conference last June. The event included presentations, activities and workshops in leadership fundamentals, ethics, communication, and problem solving.

The students, along with their parents, enjoyed dinner and fellowship as guests of the club. It was then their turn to share their RYLA experiences with club members. Each spoke about the activities that they participated in that helped to build their confidence and leadership skills, as well as the friends from other communities that they made that weekend.

RYLA is a Rotary International event designed to promote leadership skills for sophomore students to use in high school and beyond. Approximately 200 students participated in RYLA 2018. Dracut Rotary Club has been selecting students to attend RYLA since the program’s inception in 1994.