The 2019 Rotary Youth Leadership Program (RYPEN) has proved to be a huge success for four Port students: Wolfe Mackenzie, Georgina Davies, Tyson Laing and Annamika Waddell-Rowe. They were just four out of over fifty young people from WA who were invited to be part of a weekend in May that focused on team building, goal setting, building self-esteem and resilience. With a multitude of activities and guest speakers, the weekend was jam-packed from Friday afternoon until Sunday lunchtime. Students were encouraged to be different, take a chance, believe in themselves and to walk away with some new tools to be a better person in their communities.
The aim of the RYPEN weekend is to communicate to young people a series of ideas, problems and social experiences that will assist them in forming their own values and moral standards. A program of thought-provoking speakers, social situations and personal challenges was proposed and it is hoped that the program inspired and motivated the students through those activities, which will, in turn, assist them in forming their own values and standards in life. The camp was full of fun learning and team building experiences that will help them to develop life-building skills and essentially make better choices. Many new friends were made as part of their team challenges.
Our Port students were delighted that Thai cave rescue diver Dr Craig Challen, joint Australian of the Year in 2019, was able to support this year’s Rotary’s Youth Leadership Camp. Craig kindly gave up his time to speak to the young people about how the truly remarkable rescue story came to fruition and how 12 children and 1 adult were brought safely out from the Tham Luang Cave system in Thailand. Thank you Craig on behalf of Port School for a very insightful evening and story.
Our students were awarded most improved in their groups, which was an awesome accolade and an acknowledgment to them as individuals representing Port School. Well done to them all. Comfort zones were well and truly pushed and their public speaking efforts were outstanding.
