Youth Projects
Mentor Meals
Dinner and conversation is a winning combination for a select group of 30 juniors at El Modena High School.
During the school year, members of the Orange Plaza Rotary Club and Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Elmo alumni sit down with ElMo students as Meal Mentors. The adults bring their professional experience – as a printer, an attorney, an insurance broker, an environmentalist, a special education teacher – plus their business acumen, enthusiasm and dinner. They forge a relationship with the students, as two mentors dine with the same small group of students during every dinner.
The diners meet once each quarter, and begin with an ice breaker activity before segueing to a speaker and a business-related topic, such as long and short-term goal setting, identifying skills, the good/bad/ugly of social media. The audience was intrigued when guest speaker Dustin Saxton shared his varied career path to becoming ElMo principal and earning his doctorate. He worked at a grocery and several fast food places, and even drove a beer truck before teaching math.
Requirements
To augment their experience, the students are required to complete 10 hours of community service during their junior year. This year, they cleaned and repaired 1,600 books for the ThinkTogether program.
Mentorship
The mentors meet for one last dinner with the students during the students’ senior year, offering networking assistance and advice, as well as awarding a scholarship. The successful program is coordinated by Alexis Greenlee, an English instructor and 2015-16 Teacher of the Year, with collaboration by the Rotarians, alumni and Hispanic Chamber.
RYLA Leadership Camp
Youth Leadership Programs
(RYLA) focus on leadership development for high school juniors. Selected for their leadership potential, students attend a three-day, all-expense-paid camp at Idyllwild Pines, California, organized by Rotarians and facilitated by RYLA Alumni. They connect with talented peers across the district, learning, growing, and building friendships in a fun, impactful environment.
What RYLA Offers
- 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 local community and internationally.
- Building self-confidence and self-esteem.
- Elements of community and global citizenship.
Working together to create unity
Each student is assigned to a “Family” Group of 10 kids with 2 Rotarian leaders (l male and l female). These groups are the vehicle to process the day’s events, build teamwork, and integrate the positive examples of leadership, ethical behavior and constructive group dynamics. By investing in our youth today, the RYLA committee believes that we have an insurance policy for our future. Enthusiastic students return to their schools and their communities with an increased sense of self confidence and self esteem and better equipped to implement the fundamentals of leadership in their every day lives.
Interact Club
Take action, build international understanding, and make new friends around the world.
Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self. Find out how serious leadership can be seriously fun.
What are the benefits?
Connect with leaders in your community and around the world to:
- Take action to make a difference in your school and community
- Discover new cultures and promote international understanding
- Become a leader in your school and community
- Have fun and make new friends from around the world
What’s involved?
Interact clubs organize at least two projects every year, one that helps their school or community and one that promotes international understanding. Rotary club sponsors mentor and guide Interactors as they carry out projects and develop leadership skills.
Celebrate the global impact of Interact by getting involved in:
- World Interact Week
- Interact Video Awards
- Rotary Youth Day at the United Nations
- Global Youth Service Day
How do I join?
Check with your school or contact a local Rotary club to find out if there’s an Interact club in your area. Contact the Interact club to find out how you can join its next meeting, service project, or community event.
Student Scholarships
The Rotary Foundation and clubs invest in our future leaders and philanthropists by funding scholarships.
Orange Plaza Rotary provides scholarships to students pursuing secondary, undergraduate, or graduate education, supporting the development of future leaders and philanthropists.
Seeking a Scholarship?
1. Club and Districts
Offer scholarships for secondary, undergraduate, or graduate study. These scholarships can be supported with funds raised locally or with Rotary Foundation district or global grants.
Contact your local club for application information and eligibility requirements.
2. The Rotary Foundation
Offers scholarships for college graduates and professionals to study peace and conflict resolution.
Rotary Peace Fellowships are available to candidates who want to participate in a master’s degree or professional development certificate program at one of our partner universities. Learn about Rotary Peace Fellowship eligibility requirements and qualifications.
What are the benefits?
Connect with leaders in your community and around the world to:
- Take action to make a difference in your school and community
- Discover new cultures and promote international understanding
- Become a leader in your school and community
- Have fun and make new friends from around the world
Want to offer a scholarship?
Rotary clubs can apply to The Rotary Foundation for district and global grants to support scholarships.
Global grant scholarships
Global grants are for graduate students studying abroad in one of Rotary’s areas of focus:
- Promoting peace
- Fighting disease
- Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
- Saving mothers and children
- Supporting education
- Growing local economies
- Protecting the environment
Scholarships last from one to four years and can include an entire degree program. Global grant scholarships are funded using District Designated Funds (DDF), cash, and directed gifts and endowment earnings. The Foundation will provide an 80% World Fund match for all DDF contributions.
District grants
District grants can be used to sponsor secondary school, undergraduate, or graduate students studying any subject, either locally or abroad. The scholarship may cover any length of time, from a six-week language training program to a year or more of university study.
Rotary Peace Fellowships
Rotary members are essential to recruiting qualified candidates for Rotary Peace Fellowships. You can advance peace around the world by promoting peace fellowships and supporting peace fellow candidates through the application process.
Book Doctor Children’s Literacy
Promotes literacy for children by fostering reading and education initiatives that help young readers build foundational skills and a love for learning.
Boy Scouts and Exploring
Rotary partners with Boy Scouts to promote character-building, leadership, and service. Rotary-chartered Scouting units serve thousands of young people, reinforcing shared values of service and integrity.
Since their inception, Rotary International (1905) and the Boy Scouts of America (1910) have been partners in serving young people. The principles and goals of both organizations are closely allied. Character-building; service to country, to others, and to self; teaching leadership skills; and becoming aware of the world around us–these are all incorporated into the programs and activities of each organization.
The values expressed in Rotary International’s Motto and the Four Way Test greatly parallel those articulated in the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan. Rotarians have long served as role models, demonstrating leadership, character, and the value of selfless service to the community. Rotary clubs in the United States charter nearly 1,400 Scouting units (Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout Troops, and Venturing crews) serving more than 50,000 members.
Walk for Pediatric Cancer Research
The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation is committed to growing the impact of Reaching for the Cure powering cures and realizing futures with every step.
Support childhood cancer research through walks and events aimed at funding cures and improving quality of life for children battling cancer.
The values expressed in Rotary International’s Motto and the Four Way Test greatly parallel those articulated in the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan. Rotarians have long served as role models, demonstrating leadership, character, and the value of selfless service to the community. Rotary clubs in the United States charter nearly 1,400 Scouting units (Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout Troops, and Venturing crews) serving more than 50,000 members.
STEM Support
The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation is committed to growing the impact of Reaching for the Cure powering cures and realizing futures with every step.
Science and mathematics happen to be important yet challenging subjects for the rural students. We chose schools that especially caters to the socially and economically challenged students. They were provided equipment under the STEM program wherein students received a gift of almost 130 different experiment kits. This helps them understand concepts from their science textbooks, all these are hands-on experiments, simple yet elegant, which give the student and insight into the principles of science technology engineering and mathematics.