NDA students, as well as all Green Bay area students, have been offered the opportunity to apply to the Rotary Club’s Youth Leadership Conference, which provide the opportunity for students to grow in their leadership skills.

RYLA is a three-day leadership conference for high school students that emphasizes leadership, citizenship and personal growth. This is done through participatory outdoor-based activities, including trust-based programs, problem-solving initiatives and low and high challenge course experiences.

This year’s conference will be held at the YMCA Camp Manito-wish in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, beginning at noon on Friday, October 4, and ending at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 6. Ten students from the Green Bay area will be chosen to attend.

Last year, three NDA students were chosen for the conference: Maddie Hilts, Shawn Huss and Kinsey Gallagher. They applied because they wanted to grow in their leadership skills and meet new people from all over the state.

“I decided to apply to the RYLA leadership conference because I like finding any new ways I can expand my knowledge and leadership skills,” said Gallagher.

The club wishes to identify students who are already leaders, along with those who have potential leadership skills. The Rotary Club covers all costs to attend the weekend event.

At the conference, the students were broken up into smaller groups to perform activities, games, and hold leadership talks and then later convene in large groups to discuss the work done in small groups.

There were fun activities like capture the flag and a ropes course, and this showed to Gallagher that “it does not matter who you are, you can still accomplish things if you use teamwork and cooperation, which are two major characteristics of leadership.”

“We did many activities, some physical and some mental (meditation and discussion) that pushed our leadership skills as a group and as individuals,” said Hilts.

Gallagher would absolutely recommend the program to any students interested in applying. She met so many nice people through the conference and learned skills she was able to take back and implement in her community.

“It was one of my favorite retreat experiences I have been on. I have already recommended and shared the application with many friends encouraging them to go,” said Gallagher.

Hilts would also recommend applying to the conference, as she had an impactful experience in the two days.

“It helped me with my leadership skills and approach, and it made me so open to new ways of leadership and activities,” said Hilts.