As was expected, we were indeed inspired by the presentation from six of the nine, St. Johns Rotary sponsored students, who attended this year RYPEN Camp in late March.These talks continue to be a highlight of the Rotary year and this year was no exception, with all six students each relaying what a great experience the camp had been and it was made even better by the students not having access to their cell phones - a "first" for some!
RYPEN, (the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment), is a Youth Leadership camp for Year 12 and 13 students, aged between 14 - 17 years old, designed at developing young people’s potential through a mixture of lecture style sessions and adventure-based learning.
RYPEN is designed for students who are seen as the upcoming leaders in schools within our District who just need a bit of a push and a confidence boost to start achieving at their full potential.
RYPEN has as its principal aim, to communicate to young people taking part in the program a series of ideas, problems and social experiences which will assist them in forming their own values and moral standards and allow them to broaden their horizons culturally, socially and academically.
After listening to all six students it is apparent that we met our goals and a huge thank you goes to; Ainie, Tricia Gerrard, Mark Hillman, and Kevin Kevany for their contribution to the planning and administration of the District led Camp. This was complimented with support and assistance from Grant Matheson and George Wilson from the Rotary Club of Papakura, Hilary Prior from the Rotary Club of Downtown and the Rotaract Club of Auckland City and Rotaract Club of Auckland University together with past RYLArians.
The above picture shows the four of the six from Glendowie College and two of the three sponsored from Sacred Heart College, accompanied by teachers David and Nick.