"New year of Weston-Wayland Rotary honoring student leaders"
Since launching the Rotary Rising Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) in 2017, the Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland has recognized 30 sophomores and sponsored 20 to attend the two-and-a-half day transformational RYLA Conference, which convenes each year in June.
Nominations for this year can be submitted online at WestonWaylandRotary.org by Oct. 1, Nov. 1 and Feb. 1.
During the 2019-20 academic year, sophomores who live or study in Wayland or Weston will be recognized at three celebration dinners at the Weston Golf Club.
“Today, we are excited to announce the third year of the Rotary Rising Youth Leadership Award,” said John Marchiony, RYLA chair of the Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland. “The program enables our Rotary Club to support, inspire and recognize sophomores in our year-long effort focusing on leadership and community service in keeping with the Rotary motto of ‘Service above self.’”
Selected students will be recognized at the Rotary celebration dinners and by GateHouse Media through the Town Crier newspapers and WickedLocal.com websites. Michael Wyner, editor of The Weston Town Crier and The Wayland Town Crier, said, “I agreed instantly that our organization wanted to be a partner in recognizing sophomores who step forward to contribute as leaders because they strengthen our communities now and for the future. These are students to watch, and to follow.”
Each student selected as an award winner will also be invited and encouraged to apply to represent Wayland and Weston at the 2020 Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA), the three-day leadership conference held annually in Massachusetts. Approximately 200 students attend along with 200 volunteers.
Zoe Hughes, a member of the Class of 2020 at Wayland High, won the award in 2018 and attended the conference.
“RYLA,” according to Hughes, “was truly life-changing for me. After going as a sophomore, I had the privilege of being able to participate again this year as a group facilitator. The friendships I made, the leadership skills I acquired, and the passion I developed for service are all things that I’ll hold throughout my life.
“Because of RYLA, I am more confident in myself as a person and as a leader. I plan to go back to RYLA as a volunteer to help other kids experience what I did.”
In 2020, the Weston-Wayland Rotary Club will again sponsor 10 students to attend the conference because of the year-long support of two generous sponsors, The Village Bank and LandVest | Christie’s International Real Estate.
Any student can be nominated by a member of the community through a simple online form available at westonwaylandrotary.com. The deadlines for nominations for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards are Oct. 1, Nov. 1 and Feb. 1. The first awards will be presented on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Rotarian Patricia MacNeil, vice president of The Village Bank in Wayland, said, “These students are such an inspiration. I am excited to meet them and recognize their contributions.”
The Rotary Club contributes to Wayland and Weston throughout the year. On Sept. 21, the club will host its 25th annual Antique and Classic Car Show in the center of Weston. In addition to being a fun, family-friendly event on Town House Road, the car show generates substantial contributions to the Rotary Scholarship Fund.
For the last 10 years, the club has provided at least $15,000 of scholarship support to graduating seniors from Wayland and Weston.
Rob Mosher, scholarship chair for Weston, is “already looking forward to our Scholarship Celebration Dinner in June 2020, when we will be able to meet and celebrate the scholarship recipients we were able to support. This past June, I was amazed at the accomplishments of the graduating seniors we interviewed. It was also wonderful to share that evening at the Weston Golf Club with the other organizations in town that also provided scholarships.”
″‘Service above self’ is the motto that attracted me to Rotary,” said Mark Messina, who advises the Interact Club at Wayland High School. “I believe that more people want to do more community service more often in our communities. These students, whether they are leaders or have shown potential for it, have great energy for engaging their peers, parents and communities. It will be exciting to see what they create this year.”
For information or to get involved with the Rising Youth Leadership Award program or the Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland click here.
