Our club sponsored two students from the Aviation High School Interact Club to the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) held on 14-16 May at the Luther Heights Camp, Coolum Beach. The students were at our meeting today to tell us about their experiences. 

RYPEN provides valuable leadership training for 14 to 17 year olds, and is a residential weekend program where participants engage with like-minded people, discovering their values and building communication and leadership skills – all whilst having fun! 

Some of the elements of the weekend included

  • Effective and Assertive Communication
  • Stress Management
  • Self Esteem
  • Personal Values
  • Goal Setting
  • Decision Making
  • Responsibility of Self

The Students had to write their expectations on a large tennis ball and bring it to each activity. The first night was called Survival Challenge, based around a word building exercise. The next day saw them on a flying fox (they each did it twice, apparently without mishap), followed by a team-building exercise. This exercise was a “plane crash”, two people in the group were injured, and the “survivors” had to take them on a stretcher across a “swamp”.

Their team was called ‘Rich Chickens’ and ‘Eggscellent Red Roosters’ (clearly, you had to be there – ed). There was the inevitable Talent Quest night, and the shirts with everyone’s signatures on them.

By the sound of it, both students had a lot of fun, and they probably picked up a lot of the things in the dot-points above. Well done!

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