Imagine RYLA+ 2022
RYLA was held October 10-16 at Camp Walk On Water (WOW) in Stuart, OK. Around 40 new and returning students logged on the evenings of October 10-12 to a warm welcome from DG Deena, then spent their time building camaraderie with their teams and focusing on building their skills to lead in an online environment. During this time, students participated in complex activities to practice their skills, including an online mystery and a digital escape room, discussion-based activities on current topics, including intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, communication benefits and challenges of today, and social media topics, as well as doing their first personality/communication style activity. These activities allowed students to build a solid foundation to grow their skills as well as provide an opportunity to make connections with counselors and other campers.
On October 14th, we welcomed those same students for the in-person portion of RYLA, our first opportunity to do so since 2019 (RYLA 2020 & 2021 were held entirely online with eRYLA). Having already established friendships and team names online, students were immediately ready to dive into further curriculum and go even deeper with discussions. The hands-on curriculum included several complex activities to continue practicing how to navigate pressure and ambiguity, problem-solve, critically think, communicate and collaborate, discussion-based activities on such topics as the 4-Way Test and its relevance today. Other activity topics included: growth mindset, additional personality and leadership styles, making first impressions and nonverbal communication, as well a labyrinth walk, multiple bonfires and an activity highlighting Rotary's 7 Areas of Focus.
In addition to the awesome crew of Oklahoma RYLA Alumni, we had the absolute pleasure of having RYE student Maria Franco join us. She attended RYLA in Brazil and was able to jump right in as a Trailblazer this year. Several RYLA Alumni from South Texas also flew in to help as part of the growing exchange program between district alumni. This year (2022), several Oklahoma Alumni were able to travel to RYLA in South Texas as well as Southern California to be part of those district’s RYLAs and continue their own leadership development. Perhaps one of the most welcomed sights this year was the long row of chili for Chili Cook-Off, which was coordinated by Midtown Rotary. A delicious tradition that brings Rotarians and students together. Much gratitude goes out to the Rotarians who supported this event through finding campers, sponsoring students, cooking chili, and coming out to camp to volunteer. Lives were changed forever in the best way because of you.
If you missed out this year or would be interested in getting involved again, the committee would love for you to be involved for RYLA+ 2023, which will take place the first week in October. We are looking for people to serve on the planning committee (to prepare for next year’s camp), the foundation board (to raise funds for additional sponsorships and supplies) and volunteers to be with us during RYLA next year. If you are interested in being a part of this amazing experience and having a positive impact on the lives of the youth in Oklahoma, please reach out to Jeff Gabelsberg at rylaup5750@gmail.com.