The Rotary theme for May is Youth Service. Here are the programs in this Avenue of Service: Interact for young people 12-18 years old, typically these are clubs in middle and high schools, but could be community-based. Rotary clubs can energize and inspire Interactors through service and encourage them to become responsible global citizens by supporting Interact clubs. Worldwide, there are 342,953 Interactors in 14,911 clubs in 145 countries. In District 5000, we have 40 active clubs. West Honolulu sponsors the Interact club at Farrington High School, which started in 1998, but officially chartered in December 2000.
RYLA or Rotary Youth Leadership Awards is an impactful weekend event with students from all over the island. For Oahu, the camp was held at Camp Erdman. The cost of $250 per student is covered by the sponsoring Rotary club. As we heard from the Farrington students that attended RYLA in February, they learned a lot, met many students from other schools and they had a great time.
Rotary Youth Exchange can be long or short term; Long-term exchanges usually go a year and student attends school in the host area and lives with the host family. Each year, our District usually has 5 out-going and 5 incoming students in the official Rotary Exchange program.
The Rotaract program was spun off 3 years ago and is now a membership type. There is no upper age limit and the club can be housed at a college or in the community. We have 2 active Rotaract clubs in the District.