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Student leaders share experiences from RYLA camp

Three student leaders learned many lessons about teamwork and leadership, as well as about themselves as persons, after spending a week at a Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly camp over the summer. Dalton Molnar of St.
RYLA kids

Three student leaders learned many lessons about teamwork and leadership, as well as about themselves as persons, after spending a week at a Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly camp over the summer.

Dalton Molnar of St. Michael School, Grade 10 student Jaylynn Haupstein and Grade 12 student Mackenna Glennie of the Weyburn Comp, are all members of their respective Student Representative Councils (SRC). They were sponsored by the Weyburn Rotary Club to attend the camp, held at Clear Lake, Man., with fellow student leaders attending from throughout Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Dalton, as a member of the St. Michael Junior High, attended the Junior RYLA camp, and the girls attended the advanced camp for the older students held a week later.

“I found out near the end of the school year that I would be St. Michael’s delegate,” said Dalton, explaining his adventure began after a six-hour ride to the camp, as he met his fellow campers upon arrival.

He described a busy time of games and activities, along with leisure time spent down by the lake, during his time at the camp. Part of the activities were oriented towards leadership skills, such as organizing and performing chores each day.

There were talking times where the counselors shared their experiences with the students, and the students were encouraged to share with each other, plus there were sing-alongs at the campfire each evening.

“I made so many new friends, by the end of camp we were so close to each other. I still keep in touch with most of the friends I made,” said Dalton.

“I learned how to be a good leader, moving from making direct decisions to making more researched decisions,” he added, noting they wished they were able to spend more time at the camp.

“I really hope I get the opportunity to go to the camp again in the future,” said Dalton.

“It was an awesome experience,” said Mackenna, who noted some of the counselors told stories about their own adventures, including a couple who had been on student exchanges to other countries.

Jaylynn echoed her comments, noting one counselor had spent time in France, and the other in Norway as part of their exchange trips, plus one counselor who had been on a short-term trip from Germany.

The girls explained they were divided into colour-coded groups for the group activities, such as games and an “Amazing Race” challenge on one of the last nights together which involved portaging a canoe through the woods and doing a series of games. Each team also made a music video, which were all shown to the camp once they were done.

One of the activities involved going on a hike in the lake area with Parks Canada staff, said Mackenna, and Jaylynn noted they learned about the Shelterbox program, which provides a tent with emergency supplies to areas that have gone through a traumatic disaster, such as a tornado, flooding or earthquake.

“It was an amazing experience we both enjoyed a lot,” said Jaylynn.

One of the fun experiences they had was being awakened at 2 a.m. by leaders banging on pots, to get up and do activities which they had to finish before they were allowed to go back to bed.

Asked if they had had a chance to share their experiences with their fellow students, they said they hadn’t yet had that opportunity. Jaylynn noted they had a leadership conference, and talked about seeing a presentation from Brayden King, who attended the RYLA camps three years in a row, and is currently in Belgium on a year-long student exchange program.

Asked about what they learned from the camp, Jaylynn said she’s learned how to be more confident in talking in front of large groups of people. Mackenna added that she learned about how important it is to talk to people when problems arise.