By Shannon Lukens.
Group photo: Chloe Wilson, Coumba Geppert, Jaxen McElhinney, McKenzie Maines, Andrew Melzer, Wyatt Boatner, Carson Hirning, Alex Hall, Andrew Weinman
Steamboat Springs Rotary Club honored and recognized local 8th graders and two high school students with all-expense paid scholarships to leadership camps at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. The camps had about 500 students from inner city Denver to Wyoming to across the state.
The Steamboat Springs Rotary Club provided nine of the scholarships and Ski Town Rotary provided one. The kids spoke to the local Rotary clubs recently to talk about their week-long leadership experience. Here is what the kids said:
Reese Turnipseed, recent graduate of Steamboat Springs High School: “I met some really good friends while at RYLA and my Junior Counselor was incredible! I also learned that in a successful society you need followers with flexibility and a supportive attitude with leaders who are more vocal.”
Andrew Melzer, 8th grader at Sleeping Giant: “I learned to be a better person by helping out others and helping my teammates when they were struggling.”
Andrew Weinman, 8th grader at Sleeping Giant School: “A Paralympian gave an inspiring speech about his life that inspired me.”
Chloe Wilson, 8th grader at Steamboat Springs Middle School: “RYLA meant so much to me. I learned many ways to be a better leader at camp. Now I can help the people around me become better leaders by sharing what I learned at camp. During RYLA we did many trust exercises where we were blindfolded and had to trust that our partner would help us through the course whether picking up buckets with elastic bands or avoiding running into objects or each other. These activities helped me to build trust in people because a big part of being a leader is being able to trust others.”
McKenzie Maines, 8th grader at Steamboat Springs Middle School: “Trust and honesty is key. Taking risks makes everything more fun. Working together as a team will help you be more successful. Listening is very powerful. Teamwork makes everything more fun.”
Leah Bannister, 8th grader at Steamboat Springs Middle School: “My favorite activity was Take a Look Around, because it was deep and heartfelt, and it gave you a chance to understand other people. I learned from that activity that everyone deals with a lot of the same problems but everyone has a different story that you have no idea about so you should treat others kindly.”
Wyatt Boatner, 8th grader at Steamboat Christian Academy: “You have to trust to be a leader. You can’t do everything by yourself. Don’t judge someone before you get to know them.”