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RYLA
RYLA 2026 - A Rave Review

RYLA brings together young people from different backgrounds - home, educational, religious, and lifestyle – for the opportunity to challenge themselves through small team activities, large group activities, and candid, round-table discussions. RYLA programming includes individual personality profiles, conflict resolution styles, and ropes course activities in a schedule designed to encourage each student’s growth in the areas of teamwork, communication, and trust. RYLA aims to build new leaders for your schools, communities, and clubs.

Included once again was the opportunity to participate in a service project which allows the students to experience the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” firsthand as RYLA partnered with Rise Against Hunger to package 17,280 meals that will be sent overseas to less fortunate countries with inadequate food supplies. New in the RYLA lineup is a scavenger hunt of activities designed around Rotary’s seven Areas of Focus, teaching the students more about what Rotary can do for the world around them.

One of the recurring themes of RYLA is the student who accomplishes a feat he/she would have never dared to imagine before coming to camp. The most memorable of these culminating events are always the board break, which allows students to break through their fears to reach their goals, and the Trust Fall from a 5-foot platform into the waiting arms of teammates. And just as always, most of the students who were very hesitant to spend 5 days with over 100 strangers became the friends who did not want to part ways at the end. This speaks volumes to the benefit of RYLA and the positive changes it can create in young lives.

Even more telling of the long-lasting influence of RYLA is the fact that 90% of the counselors were once RYLA participants themselves – they believe in it enough to commit the time and energy to return each year and make RYLA the best experience possible. Over 25 Rotary members – coming from Americus, Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Moultrie, and Roswell – volunteered directly with RYLA as staff, chaperones, talent show judges, or to meet the buses in Atlanta and Columbus. We also had at least 2 Rotary spouses and 9 community members volunteering in some capacity to make RYLA possible, not to mention all those working at the club level to secure the nomination and selection of student participants. And once again, this year we had the honor of welcoming many district leaders, among them DG Steve Ivory, DGE Cynthia Edwards, and DGND Amy Benton. PDG Gordon Owens even volunteered again for the whole week as a counselor – that makes 3 years for him (and counting)!

If you want to change the life of a young student, send them to RYLA. They will discover their potential and develop the skills needed to be leaders in their communities, careers, and everyday lives. And they achieve these goals while having fun, building friendships, and creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Posted by Jaclyn Donovan
June 26, 2026

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