Related Page

Youth Projects

 

An Idea Is Born 

Since the closing of Camp Rotary in the late 1970's, Rockford Rotary has not had an ongoing project which provides the community exposure and is readily identifiable with the club. In the fall of 2001, a task force was appointed to select a "signature project". The task force decided that a signature project should be "A highly visible project that will have a long term impact in the community that addresses a significant community need, that encourages club participation and that enhances the image of the Rockford Rotary Club in the community". The task force also set the following criteria to be used to select a signature project:

  1. It should be long-term and have high impact in the community.
  2. It should be open-ended in terms of length of time the Club is directly involved.
  3. It should be highly visible in the community and should provide high visibility for the club.
  4. It should have a service component and a financial component so that Club members have several ways to get involved.
  5. It must address a community need.
After reviewing many worthwhile proposals from Rotary members and the community at large, the task force recommended that Rockford Rotary adopt the "Teen Leadership Program" as the club's signature project. As the name implies, this is a program to provide leadership training for teens in the Rockford area.  The name was changed to "Rotary Academy" to reflect the our sponsorship.  Evenutally the students even began to refer to themselves as "Rotarians". 

The Rotary Academy wasimplemented during the 2002-03 school year at 3 schools as a pilot program. The details of the project are be worked on by a newly formed signature project committee. The program will concentrate on the Middle Schools in the Rockford School District initially and will then be made available to all public and private middle schools. As the graduates of the program move on to high school, they will be encouraged to participate in the program as mentors and instructors.

The Rotary Academy will provide a structured program of leadership training that is lacking in our schools. It is also anticipated that this program will not only be a benefit to the community but will also provide Rockford Rotary members with an opportunity to participate as volunteers and as financial supporters.