• Home
  • News
  • Obituaries
  • Police & Fire
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Business
  • Real Estate
  • Advertise
  • Town
    • Westborough
    • Shrewsbury
    • Northborough
    • Marlborough
    • Hudson
    • Southborough
    • Grafton
  • Print Edition
Sign in
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Password recovery
Recover your password
Search
Monday, January 18, 2021
  • Events
    • Ongoing
  • Contact us
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Community Advocate news and events Community Advocate
  • Shrewsbury
  • Westborough
  • Northborough
  • Southborough
  • Marlborough
  • Hudson
  • Grafton
  • Home
  • News
  • Obituaries
  • Police & Fire
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Business
  • Real Estate
  • Advertise
  • Town
    • Westborough
    • Shrewsbury
    • Northborough
    • Marlborough
    • Hudson
    • Southborough
    • Grafton
  • Print Edition
Skopetski Nov 4
How can the Community Advocate help you promote your business?
Print Ads
Web Ads
Digital Marketing
Home Byline Stories - News Rotary Club of Westborough invests in youth leaders
  • Byline Stories - News
  • People and Places
  • Westborough

Rotary Club of Westborough invests in youth leaders

By
Community Advocate Staff
-
August 22, 2014
177
Facebook
Twitter
Email

    By Ed Karvoski Jr., Contributing Writer

    Local participants in this summer's Rotary Youth Leadership Awards weekend: (l to r) Marissa Moquin, Molly Reilly, Riley Gardner, Michala Sockol, Carlos Santom, Jon Gross and Matt Pickering. Photo/submitted
    Local participants in this summer's Rotary Youth Leadership Awards weekend: (l to r) Marissa Moquin, Molly Reilly, Riley Gardner, Michala Sockol, Carlos Santom, Jon Gross and Matt Pickering. Photo/submitted

    Westborough – The Rotary Club of Westborough continued its longtime tradition of offering Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) to rising 11th-graders. Over 170 recipients, known as RYLAns, from Rotary District 7910 attended this year's weekend of workshops from June 27 to 29 at Worcester State University. Westborough Rotarians sponsored five local RYLAns: Riley Gardner, Jon Gross, Matt Pickering, Molly Reilly and Michala Sockol.

    Effective public speaking was one lesson they developed that weekend. At the Westborough Rotarians” Aug. 6 meeting at The Chateau, those skills were displayed in a question-and-answer exchange with two of the RYLAns, Riley and Molly.

    “We got to learn about ourselves and leadership qualities,” Riley shared. “Communication is the most important. We learned to work together and communicate with other people in a group.”

    For the weekend's first workshop, groups of students were given newspapers and masking tape with instructions to build a bridge tall enough so that a can of paint would fit underneath. Another paint can was placed on top of each bridge to test its sturdiness. This exercise was done nonverbally.

    “Without speaking, it was really tough to communicate with people who we just met about 10 minutes ago,” Riley acknowledged. “But we worked it out.”

    Molly added, “It didn's even look like a bridge, but it was a great way to start the weekend.”

    Riley and Molly both appreciated a guest speaker who conducted an exercise to help overcome barriers.

    “On one side of a board you wrote your obstacles and on the other side you wrote your goals,” Riley explained. “At the end, we were able to break the board with our hand and it was really empowering.”

    They also learned the values of teamwork and community service with the nonprofit Stop Hunger Now.

    “We worked at different stations and packaged over 10,000 meals extremely fast,” Molly relayed. “That was really powerful how we were able to work together in such a short amount of time.”

    RYLAns got a better understanding of the Rotary's primary motto: “Service above Self.”

    “It's all about selflessness and doing things for other people in your community,” Molly said. “We'se fortunate to have a lot of resources when other people don's.”

    Students who have completed the RYLA weekend can apply the following year as a group facilitator. Those chosen are trained for several weekends in the winter and spring. This year, Westborough Rotarians selected two group facilitators, Marissa Moquin and Carlos Santom.

    Among the Rotarians who volunteered to help with the weekend activities was Betsy Moquin, who considers rising 11-graders an ideal age for RYLA.

    “They'se finding their niche in high school and they'se involved in whatever activities suit them best,” she said. “They'se at a point that they want to become the leader of a club or the captain of a team. They'se looking to develop and polish those skills that will take them to the next level.”

    RYLAns can use these skills throughout their next few years, Moquin noted.

    “They'se starting to get ready to meet with college admission councilors,” she said. “They'se being interviewed for potential scholarships to pay for their education. After they'se done with school, they can put these skills to good use when they start to enter the workforce.”

    Molly and Riley are considering to apply as group facilitator next year. Likewise, Moquin is looking forward to volunteering again for the RYLA weekend.

    “I like being a part of any activity that allows us to invest in that generation,” she said. “That's what this weekend is all about.”

    For more information about the Rotary Club of Westborough, visit www.westboroughrotary.org.

    • TAGS
    • Ed Karvoski Jr.
    • Jon Gross
    • michala sockol
    • Molly Reilly
    • Rotary Club of Westborough
    • Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
    • westborough MA
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Email
      Previous articleNorthborough and Southborough relatives host Haitian youth
      Next articleRecent high school graduate conducts research in Nobel Prize winner's lab
      Community Advocate Staff

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      W scouts ladders 1
      Westborough

      Westborough Scouts donate ice ladders to Fire Department

      Phyllis B. Dean
      Obituaries

      Phyllis B. Dean, 82, of Westborough

      George E. Parker Jr.
      Obituaries

      George E. Parker Jr., 70, of Westborough

      Richard J. Pond
      Obituaries

      Richard J. Pond, 66, of Westborough

      Westborough
      Westborough

      Westborough officials say PFAS detection in offline wells pose no danger

      White Cliffs
      Northborough

      Northborough seeks partners, investors for White Cliffs

      Branches website ad Jan 2021
      Oct 2020 Renovo MD
      Fitts Insurance
      Fuller RV ad
      Fay side bar 1.13.21

      Follow Us

      Sign Up For Our Newsletter


      Community Advocate news and events
      ABOUT US

      The Community Advocate is an independently owned newspaper with a legacy of over 40 years serving the communities of Grafton, Hudson, Marlborough, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough and Westborough. It is also the number-one circulated paper in those communities. We cover a wide variety of breaking news, municipal issues, human interest features and sports stories.

      For Advertising Inquiries:
      Advertising@communityadvocate.com

      For editorial inquiries:
      News@communityadvocate.com

      Contact us: news@communityadvocate.com
      FOLLOW US
      • Events
        • Ongoing
      • Contact us
      © Community Advocate. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy