Thursday, November 12, 2020
By: Darren CrewYouth Avenue Director Darren Crew shares an update about RYLA, Interact, Rotaract, Rotary Youth Exchange Program, Dictionary Project, and Career Fair.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)
The RYLA Conference of February 2021 was cancelled by District 7620.
Interact
Rotary's Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self. The Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., currently supports and partners with Interact Clubs at Columbia Heights Educational Campus (CHEC) and Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts. Students designed and created banners to show support of health workers who have been fighting COVID-19 on the frontline. During virtual learning, the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., will be supporting our partnering Interact Clubs to develop exchange programs with Interact Clubs from around the world.
RICHARD WRIGHT INTERACT CLUB: The Interact Club of Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts (Richard Wright Interact Club) raised over $200 from a fundraiser (and the money was matched by the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C.), and this allowed them to donate to Best Kids, Inc. (a nonprofit mentoring organization that empowers youth in foster care to build better futures, one child at a time) for their Virtual Superhero 5K and Fun Run. The Richard Wright Interact Club had two of its members participate in a Rotary Four-Way Test Speech Competition, and plans to partner with the Arkansas Rotary Interact Club for an inspirational art project to say thank you to healthcare providers.
CHEC INTERACT CLUB: The Interact club of Columbia Heights Educational Campus (CHEC) used money received from the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., Foundation to provide the Rotary Club of San Salvador with a $1,035 grant for disaster relief efforts after Tropical Storm Amanda. The Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., Foundation sent an additional $1,000 grant toward relief efforts.
Rotaract
Rotaract clubs bring together people aged 18-30 to exchange ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun through service.
ROTARACT CLUB OF WASHINGTON DC: This club used a portion of their Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., Foundation remaining funds to support health care workers responding to the COVID-19 crisis, by purchasing 240 face shields through Project Shield (an initiative by Rotary District 5320 in California). Face shields will be donated to first responders at Howard University Hospital.
ROTARACT CLUB OF GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: This club is excited to be in their second year as a club. The hosted a virtual fundraiser to raise funds for Food-4-DC-Kids. They used a portion of their Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., Foundation remaining funds to provide COVID-19 crisis relief funds ($500) for Food-4-DC-Kids. They plan to increase and diversify membership. They participated in the university-wide virtual organization fair. Anticipating a lot of ‘Zoom fatigue’ from their members this semester, the group is planning to primarily engage with new and existing members via regular newsletters suggesting upcoming volunteering and other interesting opportunities. They’re hoping to connect with other DC area Rotaract clubs to compare notes and brainstorm how to adapt to the remote context. They have already issued their first newsletter. Events of note include the October 3rd Earth Day Cleanup with the Anacostia Watershed Society and the October 15th Rotary webinar entitled "Promoting Literacy in Difficult Contexts."
Rotary Youth Exchange Program
The District had the first meeting for the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. They are gearing up for next year’s cycle, and the application process started in September 2020. The deadline for submission to the Rotary Club was originally October 1,2020, but the deadline was moved to mid-November with interviews by December. The District plans to sponsor four students (plus the five from last year that were not able to go due to COVID-19). Columbia Heights Educational Campus (CHEC) appears to have one or more potential candidates, and is expected to provide more information soon. Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts might have candidates also. After getting information regarding candidates, the committee will reach out to other Rotary Club members for assistance with interviews. Our Rotary Club will screen and elevate to the District, for selection. There is also a need to find host parents for any incoming students.
Dictionary Project
WHAT’S NEW: (1) A survey is being used to gather statistics on who is delivering the dictionaries and how to improve the Dictionary Project. (2) An interactive Google map is being used to enable Rotarians to view the locations and delivery availability of schools. (3) A promotional flyer has been designed to encourage Rotarians to volunteer to deliver dictionaries to local schools.
COMING SOON: (1) A video introduction to the Rotary Dictionary Project for third grade students (in the event in-person classroom visits are not possible). (2) Instructions for creating Zoom accounts for Rotarians in case we must deliver dictionaries remotely.
CHALLENGES: Delivery to classrooms during the COVID-19 situation.
TIMELINE: Tentative plan to do the Dictionary Project in January 2021 instead of September/October 2020.
Career Fair
There is a strong commitment to work with Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC) during the 2020-21 school year. As information becomes available, we will update our pathway for the 2020-21 Annual Rotary Foundation Career Fair at CHEC.Read More