FAIRFIELD ROTARY CLUB youth leader Brian Mannen, left, presents the Rotary Youth Leadership Award to Kendall Dotson and Blake Miller. Fairfield high school students Kendall Dotson and Blake Miller have been chosen to receive District 5870 Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) and will be attending “RYLA in the Rough” at McKinney Roughs Nature Park near Bastrop in July.

The awards were presented last week by Fairfield Rotary Club RYLA coordinator Brian Mannen.

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary’s leadership training program for young people. RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and personal growth, and aims to: demonstrate Rotary’s respect and concern for youth; provide an effective training experience for selected youth and potential leaders; encourage leadership of youth by youth; and recognize young people who are rendering service to their communities, Mannen says.

Though each RYLA event is tailored to participants’ ages and interests, the core curriculum covers topics including fundamentals of leadership, ethics of positive leadership, importance of communication skills in effective leadership, problem solving and conflict management, what Rotary is and what it does for the community, building selfconfidence and selfesteem, and elements of community and global citizenship.

The core curriculum reflects community issues and is presented in a manner consistent with Texas values, Mannen adds. RYLA programs consist mainly of presentations, activities, and workshops. These three components are supplemented by group work, which is designed to enhance presentations and facilitate team building.