The History:
The Program:
District 7780’s RYLA is unique in that campers, ages 15-16, are put in an outdoor setting in a LEG (Leadership Exploration Group) with around 10 other campers who they have never met before. In their LEG, they will spend 4 days together exploring and uncovering their leadership strengths through team-building activities, group problem solving, confidence building, and individual tasks. RYLA’s curriculum is constantly evolving to stay up to date with new material in order to give campers a challenging and rewarding experience. In fact, Rotary District 7780 currently maintains the COPE courses at Camp Hinds.
The People:
A notable element of this particular RYLA program is that the staff is comprised of all RYLA Alumni, past campers who have volunteered their time to come back to facilitate other future leaders. Our staff members have dedicated between 1 and 16 years on staff. The majority of our staff members have also become Rotarians, serving above self beyond the RYLA program. Not only that but all of our Camp Directors, past and present, are volunteer Rotarians! We have had 20 Camp Directors throughout our history of this program:
- Richard Clark – 1991
- Herbert Barnes – 1992
- Lynn Hendricks, Mark Kelleher, Philip Rinaldi – 1993
- Daniel Hart – 1994
- Philip Rinaldi – 1995
- Arthur Bradbury – 1996
- Suzanne Cummings – 1997
- Richard Crabtree – 1998
- Shannon Aldrich, Lionel Ingram – 1998-2004
- Joseph Pace, Sarah Pace – 2005-2009
- Ben Wheeler – 2010
- Robert O’Connell – 2011-2012
- Jared Avery – 2012-2015
- Philip Giordano – 2016-2021
- Emily Rumble, Sam Klemarczyk – 2022-Present