Amelia Berndt poses for a picture after giving a presentation to the Rotary Club about her experience at a Rotary Youth Leadership weekend. Pictured left to right are Livia Lynch, Rotarian and former club president; Berndt, Pagosa Springs High School senior; and Charlotte Duranton, Rotary exchange student from Annonay, France, spending the school year in Pagosa Springs and a junior at Pagosa Springs High School.
By Lisa Scott | Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs
The Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs recently heard a presentation from the high school senior who attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) conference.
Amelia Berndt attended the three-day conference in June at Colorado Mountain College (CMC) in Leadville with more than 50 other junior and senior high school students from Rotary District 5470.
RYLA is an “award” to the students that are selected to attend an all-expenses paid camp where they are inspired by a diverse group of exceptional speakers, make life-long friends through fellowship activities, and discuss the ethical and social issues of today. These activities are conducted in an atmosphere of trust and respect. The result is that these students return to their schools and communities motivated to take on additional leadership roles and to find additional ways to serve.
While Berndt described the conference as “super fun,” she also described the activities that encouraged teamwork, being heard and how to lead.
“I made a lot of new friends and loved having a mini-college experience in the CMC dorm,” she stated in her presentation.
She also said this experience helped her gain experience and confidence in talking about her opinions to other people.
Berndt also talked about what they learned about Rotary and the impact it has in communities all over the world, especially the mission to eradicate polio worldwide.
Berndt’s family moved to Pagosa Springs four years ago and she has a twin sister.
RYLA is a program that originated with Rotary International and is implemented within various Rotary districts.
The Pagosa Springs Noon Rotary Club has been involved in RYLA for more than 15 years. Rotary District 5470 organizes the conference and local Rotary clubs select the students they want to send at the clubs’ expense. Rotarians Cindi Galabota, Codie Wilson, Deborah Fox and Katie Cloudman have been the leaders of this project for several years. Applications are available in March to high school sophomores and juniors.
Rotary clubs in town include the Pagosa Rotary Club, which meets Thursdays at noon at The Den, and the Mountain Club that meets the first and third Thursday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at Ramon’s Mexican Restaurant. Rotary is always accepting new members and invites anyone who would like to explore the opportunity to contact any community Rotarian or visit www.pagosaspringsrotary.org to find out more.
Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers in more than 46,000 clubs worldwide who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves. For more than 110 years, Rotary members have worked together to promote peace, fight disease, improve underdeveloped community conditions, support education, grow local economies and protect the environment.
