Six students share their Rotary Youth Leadership Academy experiences, gratitude with local chapter

Six Warwick Valley High School juniors — Sophia Amato, Grace Cornelius, Alexa Milazzo, Alexander O’Neill, Daniel Page and Joseph Sanzone — attended a Warwick Rotary luncheon on Wednesday to share their experiences as student ambassadors to last summer’s Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA).

RYLA is a five-day overnight leadership conference sponsored by local chapters of the Rotary Club, which brings area high school sophomores together on the campus of Mount Saint Mary College develop their leadership skills through fun-filled activities and events. These include collaborating with fellow RYLA attendees on group projects and team-building exercises, engaging with interactive presentations, learning from educational panels, and listening to inspirational speakers, from peer mentors to community leaders. 

RYLA aligns well with our district’s Portrait of a Graduate, in that the academy builds communication and problem-solving skills and teaches effective strategies for dynamic school and community leaders. There is a strong focus on civic duty, and pathways are are illuminated for students who want to turn motivation into action… and have fun and build lasting friendships while they’re at it!

RYLA also helps students with college prep through team-building that pushes them to grow outside their comfort zones and develop interpersonal skills to become confident, positive leaders. RYLA students have the benefit of experiencing life on a college campus. They stay in dorms, eat at the dining hall and use college facilities, all of which result in invaluable insights that can inform the decisions they’ll soon make about their post-graduation plans.

Thank you to the Warwick Rotary for sponsoring these six Warwick Valley students! The 2024 cohort of ambassadors was the largest that Warwick Rotary has sent yet. The students raved about their experiences to the assembled Rotarians on Wednesday, and both the district and the Rotary Club are excited about the interest and excitement that continues to grow around this annual program.

Interested in RYLA? See Mary Fox in the WVHS Guidance Office.