By Staff
Dowagiac High School student Mandy Smith joined 17 other students ranging from seniors in high school to juniors in college at the third annual Rotary College Mentoring Seminar in December.
Smith is a senior at DUHS who is currently dual enrolled with Southwestern Michigan College and plans to continue attending SMC in the fall.
All of the students in the program are very active in their schools and communities.
Smith is president of the Humanities Club, secretary of Student Senate and a member of the National Honor Society.
Also sponsored by the Dowagiac Rotary Club are Mallory Cox, a Dowagiac homeschool graduate who is currently attending SMC, and Greg Neumayer, a Cassopolis homeschool graduate who is attending Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind.
The seminar was held at Brook Lodge in Augusta from Friday, Dec. 15, through Sunday, Dec. 17.
Students listened to many different speakers, practiced professionalism, discussed major issues surrounding the economy, and continued to enhance their leadership skills and abilities.
The college mentoring program is the third step in a series of leadership initiatives put on by Rotary.
Students are selected for the first stage of the program known as RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) in high school.
This stage consists of a three-day, highly intensive leadership camp that approximately 90 students from southwest Michigan participate in yearly.
Fifteen to 20 participants from RYLA are then selected to attend the Advanced Leadership Conference.
The two differ in that RYLA is heavily based on hands-on physical activity in the outdoors through which basic leadership skills are obtained, where as the advanced section is held in a professional setting and exposes students to the use of leadership skills in the business world.
Five to 10 of the students from the Advanced Leadership Conference are then selected for the third step.
The college mentoring section is a four-year commitment of each chosen student.
Of Rotary's 529 districts in the world, District 6360 of southwest Michigan is the only one to offer such a program.
The main focus of this phase is the future and success of the students.
Those selected to be part of the program are required to attend one or two conferences a year and to set up a Rotaract service group on their college campus.
In addition, students are assigned mentors in their career field and have internships set up for them every summer. They will also receive guidance in finding a job placement upon college graduation.
Leadership and networking are the constant themes in all three of these programs.
The hope is that students will eventually be members of Rotary in the future and strive to give back to their communities.
If you are a high school student who is interested in attending the RYLA camp in the fall, please contact Dowagiac Rotary Club to request an application. If you are an outstanding leader in our community, there is a good chance you may be selected for the RYLA camp. Even if you are not chosen to progress through the program, the RYLA camp will leave you with skills and memories for a lifetime.