The Wallkill East Rotary hosted its weekly breakfast with some special guests recently. Five Pine Bush High School juniors – Heidi Pagan, Jordyn Wilson, Emma Russell, Kayanna Cauthen and Sienna Forbes – gave presentations on their experiences at the Rotary Youth Leadership program.
These five young women were chosen from about 25 applicants to the Wallkill East Rotary Club for these Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. According to Dr. Bill Bassett, a former Pine Bush Central School District superintendent and a longtime Rotarian, the club promotes this leadership academy in February to all sophomores and through the high school’s Interact Club. The criteria: students have to be interested in improving their skills in leadership, speaking, communication, team building, cooperation and problem solving.
“We try to find students who will benefit from the program,” said Dr. Bassett. “We get so many good applicants. It’s hard to decide who to select.”
Wallkill East Rotary secretary Alayne Eisloeffel said it was a pleasure to interview so many excellent candidates. Gesturing at the five young women from Pine Bush High School, she said “They are our future and they are bright.”
RYLA is a five-day conference where participants are assigned to one of 13 groups, including media, nightly news, choir, Hollywood and graduation! The young women didn’t know what to expect, and they came to like that! They worked within their groups, developed their leadership skills as well as their confidence.
“RYLA meant a lot to me,” said Heidi Pagan in her presentation. “It set me up for success. I entered this new school year with a new-found confidence and open-mindedness. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
Heidi was part of the graduation group, responsible for planning and decorating the RYLA graduation.
Emma Russell reported that her experience at RYLA changed her mind about a future career. She was assigned to the Nightly News group, and found that she loved reporting.
“I left RYLA with a new group of friends that had the same focus and determination as me,” said Emma. “I found that I loved managing/reporting so much, it helped me switch my career area.”
Jordyn Wilson said she felt extremely comfortable as soon as she arrived at RYLA even though she was to be around people she had never met before. As part of the Hollywood group, Jordyn said she had fun acting, filming and directing the movie they made for RYLA.
“RYLA taught me not to be scared of something new and to always look on the bright side of things,” said Jordyn. “I am so grateful for the things I’ve learned, the people I’ve met and the experiences I was able to have at RYLA.”
Kayanna Cauthen was part of the media group and called it an amazing experience. Her group was responsible for creating a website and slide show of all the events at RYLA. More importantly, though, RYLA taught her to get out of her comfort zone.
“RYLA taught me how to be confident within myself and not care what others think,” said Kayanna. “My engagement with RYLA was exceptional and I’m so glad to have done it.”
Sienna Forbes was part of the choir group. She, too, reflected on her time at RYLA as truly special. As part of the choir group, she worked with others in the group and performed two pieces as well as composed their own mashups. They formed great friendships and bonds with each other in the process.
“My time at KYLA was truly special,” said Sienna. “There were so many like-minded peers I would have never had the chance to meet and form close bonds with. Friendships I made helped me come out of my shell in a way I didn’t know I wanted to. I’m forever grateful!”
The Interact Club, which has chapters at Circleville Middle School, Crispell Middle School and Pine Bush High School, is affiliated with Rotary.
