Parents

Congratulations on your child being selected to attend the RYLA conference. It is quite an honor.

However, your next question inevitably is – “What is RYLA?”

RYLA is a youth program of the international service organization called Rotary International. It can be an overnight conference, though this changes occasionally, in a safe campus environment. With an experienced and caring staff (approx. 1 staff member for every five participants), we change our RYLArians’ lives forever by assisting them in defining their core values and augmenting their fundamental skills to lead and succeed. Our program includes a wide range of leadership skills, the practice, and importance of community service, ethics, etiquette, business and professional skills, and so much more! We do all this within an institutional setting and a community environment that is both fun and energizing.

To provide these learning sessions, we bring in the best speakers from Northeast Florida and Nationally to work with our group every year. Some things we do in large group settings, others in break-out sessions. One day, we do a hands-on community service to help our participants understand the value of giving to others and the positive experience which they receive in return. And we have some fun by seeing a little of the community and giving everyone a chance to relax and get to know each other. We end it all with a notable motivational speaker to help bring into focus our participants’ new-found skills. We try hard to make sure it is a balanced program, so we are not a cookie-cutter leadership camp, but rather a professional life-altering experience.

“Awesome” is what we hear from our participants year after year. That tremendous response from our participants is what keeps each of us doing this again, and again — they just get so much out of it and are so thankful for being exposed to something so positive!

We know that many times young people are hesitant to leave their friends behind and try something new and unknown. While they may understand it is a great accolade for their college application, they may not realize what an enjoyable, fun time it will be! Time after time, when our final session rolls around, RYLArians leave with great friendships they have made, as well as the memories and positive experiences they have stored away.

You will probably still have questions about our conference. We want to make sure that you have the comfort level you need to allow your child to attend. We encourage you to check out the rest of our website, read all the details, and if you still have questions, please see our Contact Us page. We can also provide local references which you may recognize. We know your teens are going to love this experience. We want to make sure you do too. We would be more than happy to share what it can mean to your son or daughter.

Thank you in advance for your confidence in us and the Servant Leadership mission of Rotary. We cannot wait to greet your young adult at RYLA!