By Shannon Lukens.
Six students from the Steamboat Springs area were chosen as Rotary Youth Leadership Award winners. The local Rotary Club sent them to a camp in Estes Park. Grayson Wells will be an 8th grader at Sleeping Giant School.
“I really liked getting out of the comfort of being in a little bubble kind of and it was nice to meet new people from my region.”
All six students provided a presentation at Tuesday’s Rotary meeting, explaining what Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) meant to them, how they benefitted from the conference, and each announced plans for projects they hope to undertake in Steamboat Springs as a result of their RYLA experience.
Lily Garey, one of the conferees, stated: “RYLA taught me I needed a good community of peers to trust, and that I need to listen to and work to understand people with different perspectives and life experiences than my own in order to be an effective leader.”
2023 Rotary Youth Leadership Award winners from Steamboat Springs are:
- Shannon Kane, Sr. RYLA, a sophomore at Steamboat Springs High School
- Zahraz “Bodhi” Tatar-Brown, Sr. RYLA, a senior at Steamboat Mountain School
- Peter Foster, Jr. RYLA, an 8th grader at Sleeping Giant School
- Lily Garey, Jr. RYLA, an 8th grader at Steamboat Springs Middle School
- Olson “Bubba” Morris, Jr. RYLA, an 8th grader at Sleeping Giant School
- Grayson Wells, Jr. RYLA, an 8th grader at Sleeping Giant School
Back row, left to right: Ashley Kane, President, Steamboat Springs Rotary Club, Shannon Kane, Peter Foster, Bubba Morris, Grayson Wells; front row, left to right: Bodhi Tater-Brown, Lily Garey
Also at Tuesday’s Rotary meeting, Routt County 4-H members spoke about the importance of 4-H and the upcoming Routt County Fair.