RYLA in the Rough 2012

Rotary District 5870

Rotary Youth Leadership Award

McKinneyRoughsNaturePark

Sunday,July1– Friday, July 6, 2012

RYLA Club

Coordinator

Guide

Contents

Page

  1. General Information...... 4
  2. 2012 RYLA Calendar...... 5
  3. Camper Recruiting, Selection, Registration, and Orientation

a.Responsibilities...... 6

(1)Club President

(2)Club RYLA Coordinator

(3)High School Contact

b.Process...... 8

(1)Recruiting

(2)Selection

(3)Selection Criteria

(4)Registration and Orientation

(5)After Registration

  1. Identifying and Documenting Club Volunteers ……………………………………………………… 12

a.Compliance Requirements of Volunteers

b.Types of Volunteer Activities

c.Compliance Process and the Coordinator’s Role

  1. Recruiting Materials

a.Sample, Brochure-Application Form...... 14

b.Sample, Recruiting Flyer...... 16

c.Sample, Recruiting Press Release...... 17

d.Sample, After RYLA Press Release...... 18

e.Sample, Interview Questions...... 19

  1. Compliance Materials

a.Volunteer Registration Form ...... 21

b.Release and Indemnification Agreement...... 22

c.Release and Authorization for Background Check ...... 23

d.Q&A Pertaining to Background Checks...... 24

  1. McKinneyRoughsNaturePark

a.Description, McKinney Roughs Nature Park...... 28

b.Maps to Camp...... 29

c.Map of McKinneyRoughsNaturePark...... 30

RYLA Resources:

  • 2009-2012 District & Camp Director

Pat O’Farrell, Northwest Austin Rotary Club

10005 Nocturne Cove, Austin, TX 78750

512-905-1759 (C) 512-250-9883 (H)

  • RYLA Administrator

Dave Roon, Northwest Austin Rotary Club

11202 Spicewood Parkway, Austin, TX 78750

512-828-1683 (C) 512-331-9812 (H)

  • RYLA Purchasing Coordinator

Angie Caffey, Northwest Austin Rotary Club

  • RYLA Program Director

Jennifer Graham, Temple Rotary Club

19 North Main St. Temple, TX 76501

254-760-1078 (C) 254-298-8592 (W)

  • RYLA Assistant Program Directors

Ashley Hermes, Yoakum Rotary Club

Joshua KuizinasCrockett Rotary Club

  • RYLA Background Screening Coordinator

Debbie Cole, Itasca Rotary Club

P O Box 208, Itasca, TX 76055

254-379-0437 (C) 254-582-3018 (H)

  • Food Service Manager
  • Jeff Brown , Onion Creek Rotary Club
  • District 5870 RYLA Web page:click on the New Generations, then RYLAbutton to access all the forms you need.

1

RYLA in the Rough 2012

Rotary District 5870

General Information

Camp Dates: Sunday, July 1st to Friday, July 6, 2012

Cost:$450.00 per camper, funded by the sponsoring Rotary Club

Where: LCRA’s McKinneyRoughsNaturePark, CedarCreek, TX (8 miles west of Bastrop on State Highway 71)

Candidates: Carefully selected central Texas high school students who are currently in 10th and 11th grades (2011-2012 school year) with demonstrated potential leadership abilities.

RYLA Goals:

  • To provide those with demonstrated potential leadership abilities an opportunity to develop and expand their leadership skills at a six-day long leadership camp
  • To provide an atmosphere where future leaders will experience learning situations that will aid them in developing sound values.
  • To promote an environment that will provide each individual with a basis of insight and understanding for intelligent leadership.
  • To promote involvement that encourages the participants to think through appropriate actions based on values and ethics.
  • To encourage the students through cooperative activities and group dynamics to develop leadership skills that can be carried back to their individual high schools and modeled.
  • To provide carefully designed camper activities that promote the self-development of leadership and follower ship skills by campers’ direct participation in those activities.

History: RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Award. RYLA was officially adopted by Rotary International in 1971. RYLA in the Rough is a six-day coeducational residential camp consisting of leadership seminars and extensive activities. At this camp, high school students carefully selected by local Rotary Clubs receive intense leadership training that gives them the personal and leadership skills they need to be successful in high school, college, and eventually their chosen professions

Aug 31, 2011 /
  • RYLA Chair requests club presidents to designate a Club RYLA Coordinator

Sep 15 /
  • Complete RYLA Club Coordinator Contact information due to RYLA Chair/Camp Director

Oct 15th /
  • RYLA Coordinator Guide distributed to club RYLA Coordinators;
  • Coordinators review the Instructions prior to attending mandatoryRYLA Roundup
  • Clubs establish a three-member club RYLA Camper Selection Committee
  • Club Coordinator identifies High School counselor to coordinate RYLA publicity in-school and distribute in-school recruitment flyers; meets with and coordinates in-school identification of RYLA candidates

Preparation
Saturday
Nov 12,201111:00-1:00 PM / RYLA Round-Up – Mandatory Attendance by Club RYLA Coordinators
Invitees –
  • Club RYLA Coordinators and Club RYLA Selection Committee members
  • High school counselors who will coordinate within schools
  • Anyone interested in learning more about RYLA

Recruiting
Nov 12, 2011 – Feb 15, 2012 /
  • Clubs advertise “RYLA in the Rough” at high schools through their HS counselor and in the local newspaper.
  • Club RYLA Selection Committee interviews and selects primary and alternate candidates
  • Club RYLA Coordinator receives Parental Consent to Participate forms from parents and mailsthe completed form to the RYLA Administrator
  • RYLA Club Coordinator mails cover materials and Camper Registration Packets to student/parents
  • Club RYLA Coordinator coordinates receipt of Camper Registration Packets from parents
  • Club RYLA Coordinators submit signed and fully proofed Camper Registration Packets to RYLAAdministrator

Commitment
Feb 15, 2012 / Forms Due to RYLA Registrar:
  • Club Sponsorship Form
  • Camper/Parent Registration Form

Applications
Mar 15, 2012 /
  • Closing date for acceptance of Camper Registration Packets with full payments

Identify Volunteers
June 1, 2012 / Due date for receipt by RYLA Assistant Administrator of the following Short-Term Volunteer forms:
  • Volunteer Registration Form (Drivers, meal servers, on-site volunteers)
  • Release and Indemnification Agreement
  • Release and Authorization for Background Check(2 page form)

Jul1. 2012
Sun, 10 am – 12 noon / Clubs deliver campers to McKinney Roughs; CampRYLAopens.
Jul6, 2012
Fri, 1:30 pm / Camp ends; Rotary clubs pick up campers at McKinney Roughs and transport campers home.

Camper Recruiting, Selection, Registration, and Orientation

Responsibilities

Club President

Select the Club RYLA Coordinator for your Club and notify the District RYLA Chairperson. Clubs pay the $450award fee for each student they sponsor. Make sure the RYLA program is budgeted. Know and make sure all deadlines are met. (See RYLA Calendar provided with these Instructions)

Club RYLA Coordinator

  • Become knowledgeable about RYLA.
  • Attend the RYLA Roundup and training session on Saturday, November20,2010, from 11:00pm – 1:00 pm (lunch provided). You will receive an Invitation to Round-up with full information.
  • Know all deadlines and make sure they are met (see enclosed RYLA Calendar).
  • Publish news releases in your local newspaper for recruiting, after selection, and after camp.
  • Organize a Club RYLA Selection Committee of at least three Rotary Club members
  • Establish recruiting contacts such as high school counselors, principals, student council coordinators, athletic directors, band directors, and teachers who will coordinate the application within the school. This contact will coordinate receipt of applications.
  • Distribute RYLA Brochures and bulletin board Flyers to High School Contacts. (Samples provided with these Instructions; electronic copies provided separately; paper brochures provided separately)
  • Thoroughly orient high school contacts to the RYLA program.
  • Interview and select primary and alternate camper nominees via theClub RYLA Selection Committee
  • Select one or more alternates. Selecting alternates is the only way to ensure that your club has a camper in attendance in the event that one of your primary campers drops out. A club should select BOTH a boy and a girl alternate, that is 2 alternates, regardless of how many primary campers the club sponsors. If it chooses, a club may select more than the minimum number of 2 alternates.
  • Make sure all selected primary candidates attend the camp. The primary and alternate campers need to understand the importance of notifying the sponsoring club RYLA Coordinators if they can't attend; then an alternate can be registered.
  • Ensure that the primary RYLA campers are informed of all elements of the program and arrange for a club member to take the camper(s) to the camp and pick the camper(s) up from the camp. This is a good opportunity for the candidate to find out more about Rotary and for the club to learn about RYLA on the return trip. (Note: The campers are not to take their own vehicles to camp. Nor should parents or other non-Rotarians transport the campers or come to the camp during the week.)
  • Arrange for the RYLA campers to attend a Rotary Meeting before and after attending RYLA. They should make a brief presentation while at the meeting.
  • Arrange for all RYLA volunteers including drivers, meal support, and other volunteers to complete and submit the required Release and Authorization for Background Check form.

High School Contact

  • Place RYLA Flyers on school bulletin boards. Make RYLA Brochures-Applications available to interested 10th and 11th graders in November2010 to develop student interest. Usable copies are provided separately from this document.
  • Encourage students who might make good candidates to submit their application.
  • Become the point person in making sure there is a sufficient pool of good potential candidates to be interviewed by the Club RYLA Selection Committee for each award.
  • Attend RYLA Round-up on November12,2012.
  • Or, participate in a RYLA Round-up make-up telephone conference call.

Camper Recruiting, Selection, Registration, and Orientation

Process

Recruiting

  1. Explore All Schools. If you have more than one club in your area, coordinate your efforts at the local high school or schools; if you have more than one high school, make sure you seek candidates at all schools. Also don't overlook private schools in your recruiting area.
  2. Identify School Contact(s). Talk with your high school contacts, usually school counselors, early in the recruiting process to inform them about the RYLA program and the available club resources. Make sure the high school contacts understand they are a very important link in the recruiting/selection process.
  3. Establish Time-table.Work out a mutually agreeable time-table for the school contact to provide the RYLA student applications to the Rotary Club RYLA Coordinator.You only have December, January and February in which to recruit primary and alternate campers, complete all registration materials, and mail them to the RYLA Administrator.
  4. Prepare School Contact(s). Enter the name of the High School Contact and the application submission date on each RYLA Brochure-Application and on the Recruiting Flyers (provided separately). Provide them to the High School Contacts. Review what RYLA hopes to achieve and the nature of the camp with the contact thus giving them a better understanding of what the camp has to offer, as well as the day-to-day activities. Express to the high school contact the far reaching benefit their high school will receive by finding quality candidates. As upcoming juniors or seniors next year, these award winners will bring back information and new skills that will benefit many others in the student body
  5. Provide and Explain Screening & Selection Criteria for a Successful RYLA Experience. RYLA’s objective is to develop leadership and life skills in high school age youth, and to develop these skills in a particular programmatic way. Therefore, student applicants must be selected based on criteria and characteristics that camp experience has shown are best correlated to achieving the maximum potential benefit from the RYLA programs as designed.
  6. Selection Criteria. Student applicants and those finally selected to attend camp must be well-rounded with respect to the following criteria:

Personal Criteria

  • Be articulate – ability to express one’s self coherently, clearly and effectively
  • Be proactive – takes initiative and actively participates
  • Be of high moral character
  • Be able to get along well with others and relate to peers
  • Have ambitions and achievable goals in life
  • Be flexible when facing new situations and experiences
  • Is able to participate in strenuous physical activity

Community Involvement

  • Participate in community activities – participates in a diverse set of activities outside of school, with an emphasis on meaningful involvement and contributions rather than on the shear number of outside activities

Academic Achievement

  • Upper-medium to high level 3.0 GPA

Family Support

  • Has some degree of family support system at home

Commitment to RYLA

  • Has genuine and sincere desire to attend RYLA to learn leadership and life skills
  • Makes a commitment to actively contribute to and participate in all camp activities
  • Be open-minded about experiencing ALL aspects of RYLA
  • Make an unqualified commitment to arriving and departing camp on time and to remaining at camp for the entire week
  • Make a commitment to take camp experiences and learned skills to own community and employ them there on an on-going basis

Sample candidate screening questions tailored to the above criteria are provided as an attachment to theseInstructions.

Under no circumstances should unqualified students be selected for camp. Based on past camp experience, there are some key factors that, if followed in identifying applicants and selecting campers, would result in a very unsuccessful RYLA experience, not just for the camper, but for other campers as well.

We do not recommend the pursuit of applicants who meet or represent any one of the following conditions or situations:

  • Are academically in the top 5 percent of class
  • Are academically in the lower 50 percent of class
  • Exhibit social, behavioral, emotional or developmental issues
  • Have medical, mental or physical conditions that would preclude taking part in numerous physically demanding outdoor activities
  • Are classified as “at risk”
  • Are “cherry-picked” by anyone for any reason
  • Whose parents refuse to allow their child to participate in the challenge course and river rafting activities
  • Have not gone through an interview process conducted by a Rotary club committee that focuses on the Criteria for a Successful RYLA Experience (above)
  • After all is said and done, if your instinct tells you not to select an applicant, then follow your instinct

Selection of Campers and Alternates

  1. Organize a Club RYLA Selection Committee. This should consist of at least three Rotarians.
  2. Arrange an interview day. Arrange a day/time to interview all of your candidates for a given school.
  3. Conduct an interview question period. This should be done privately with each candidate. Generally, 15-20 minutes per candidate should be sufficient. A list of sample interview questions is included in these Instructions.
  4. Rank and select the students.Select the students your club will make the primary and alternate awards to.Maintain an equal ratio of awards to male and female students. Many activities involve female and male teams which need to be of equal size.
  5. Select two or more alternates.This is very important to ensure your club’s participation if a primary selection is not able to come. A club should select BOTH a boy and a girl alternate, that is 2 alternates, regardless of how many primary campers the club sponsors. If it chooses, a club may select more than the minimum number of 2 alternates.

Registration and Orientation

  1. Receive and Proof Registration Packets. Once the RYLA Selection Committee selects both primary and alternate campers, the Club RYLA Coordinator shall mail the Parental Consent Form to the RYLA Administrator. The RYLA Club Coordinator will mail the Camper Registration Packet to the student or parents of primary and alternate campers. Then, the RYLA Coordinator will coordinate all remaining activities directly with the parents and their children. Review the packet with them pointing out the need for parental signatures and permissions. Point out also the documents that they should keep necessary to help them prepare for camp.
  2. Inform Alternates. Inform alternates of their status, and remind them that many alternates do get to attend camp and that 10th grade alternates can reapply the following year as an 11th grader.
  3. RYLA Award Info. Be sure your candidates are aware they are receiving an award from the sponsoring Rotary Club consisting of a grant to pay in their behalf all costs of their attending the camp. The award they will receive to CampRYLA isthe Rotary Youth Leadership Award. Make them aware of the commitment your club is making in their behalf and that they will make by attending.
  4. If they can’t attend. Remind students that if they have a conflict, they must contact the Rotary Club Coordinator immediately so that an alternate can be contacted to replace them.
  5. Rotary Contact Info. Make sure the student(s) understand that his/her Rotary Club RYLA Coordinator is the contact with your club. If there are any questions, the students and/or parents can seek answers from this person. Be sure the students are given a written document containing the Rotary Club Name, the Rotary Club RYLA Coordinator’s name, address, phones, and email.
  6. Follow up. Check with the students and their parents to ensure that all deadlines are met and any questions that either the camper or the parents have regarding camp are answered.
  1. Review Completed Registration Packets. After receiving the completed Registration Packets from both Primary and Alternative students, review them thoroughly to be sure all blanks are completed legibly and that all permissions are signed.
  1. Complete the RYLA Registration Transmittal document (provided with the Camper Registration Packet). Mail it along with the completed and verified Registration Packets no later than, March 15, 2012 to:

RYLA Administrator

It is important that your club observe or beat the March 15, 2012 submission date. It takes considerable time to address the issues that often arise with 90+ registered campers, to organize the leadership teams based on the registration data, and for the camp staff to contact the students in advance to prepare them for camp participation. Registration Packets postmarked after March 3 will be rejected.