DG Marlee Message

YOUTH FLOURISHES

Throughout this year as District Governor, I have had the honor of being present at several youth-centric events and I have been blown away with the youth who were present and the projects they undertake.  On May 11, I attended the chartering of a new Interact Club at the Veronica E. Conner Middle School on Grand Island.  Boy was this an eye-opener.  Carrie, Grand Island Rotarian, thought it would be a blast to have its two EarlyAct clubs and the new middle school Interact club and the re-aligned Grand Island Interact club come together; you see they had to rewrite who the GI Interact Club is so that the Conner Middle School could have its own Interact.  There must have been 40 members there, plus teacher advisors and Rotarians. It was an end of year party!  Welland’s Balloon man Freddy came to blow up balloons and twist and turn those into identifiable animals. He out-did himself with his attire and this balloons.  This was my third Interact club to get started and there are two additional chartering’s to do before June 30.  Fredonia started their Interact Club (was a Key Club) with 70 members. The St. Catharines club launched theirs in the fall with great fanfare. Holley’s has been so busy doing fun things like helping Holley Rotary with their beef eater dinner and a pancake breakfast that we never got to do the official part yet.  June 5 we make it official.  Also there is a new Interact Club in Jamestown, I am just waiting for the date for that one too. We have over 30 Interact Clubs in our District now.  Well done to all who seek to develop Rotarians through learning the principles of Rotary at a young age.
April 30th, Bill and I joined the farewell party for this year’s SlapShot-ers. DGE Reg was there also. My plan was to write about how impressed I was, BUT…Thursday, as I sat writing my May District Newsletter, serendipity, Jim Sykes – SlapShot Chair, sent me an email. I almost didn't’t pay the email any mind as I was on a roll. However, I was writing about the impact SlapShot has had on me both times I attended…and here SlapShot sends an email…hmmm.  Sometimes the hands of fate guide you. Chair Jim was sharing exactly what I needed to make this article more than just DG Marlee recounting tales or spouting off about what might be.  Pictured here is one team of SlapShot-ers collaborating...  wouldn't you just love to be a fly on the wall?
 
The Welland Club had sent Kendra Schaefer to SlapShot. She has lived abroad, excelled at sports and when residing in Thailand had the opportunity to play in Beijing, Taipei and Malaysia. Kendra is challenging her National Lifeguard Certification this fall.  Summer will find Kendra going to the YMCA London’s LIT Venture camp – sounds like a leader’s ideal learning experience. Here is what Kendra shared with SlapShot Chair Jim Sykes.  It is with parental permission that I am sharing what Kendra wrote at SlapShot - assuming she may have to give a speech.  Kendra wrote:“April 30th, Bill and I joined the farewell party for this year’s SlapShot-ers. DGE Reg was there also. My plan was to write about how impressed I was, BUT…Thursday, as I sat writing my May District Newsletter, serendipity, Jim Sykes – SlapShot Chair, sent me an email. I almost didn't’t pay the email any mind as I was on a roll. However, I was writing about the impact SlapShot has had on me both times I attended…and here SlapShot sends an email…hmmm.  Sometimes the hands of fate guide you. Chair Jim was sharing exactly what I needed to make this article more than just DG Marlee recounting tales or spouting off about what might be.  Pictured here is one team of SlapShot-ers collaborating...  wouldn't you just love to be a fly on the wall?
 
The Welland Club had sent Kendra Schaefer to SlapShot. She has lived abroad, excelled at sports and when residing in Thailand had the opportunity to play in Beijing, Taipei and Malaysia. Kendra is challenging her National Lifeguard Certification this fall.  Summer will find Kendra going to the YMCA London’s LIT Venture camp – sounds like a leader’s ideal learning experience. Here is what Kendra shared with SlapShot Chair Jim Sykes.  It is with parental permission that I am sharing what Kendra wrote at SlapShot - assuming she may have to give a speech.  Kendra wrote:
 
"As I was being driven here today I started to ask myself how the heck did I get in this situation? How did I, Kendra Schaefer a student at Eastdale Secondary school in Welland, come to have to give a speech in front of you wonderful people?
 
Let’s think back on the weekend in question.  My parents had to push me out the door and drag me kicking and screaming to meet up with my group, figuratively speaking of course, I wasn't’t really screaming, well maybe in my head.  But let's not go there.  Let me tell you a secret, and shhh don’t tell my parents, BEST DECISION EVER.
 
I want to thank you, the Rotary club, for the opportunity you have given me. To spend 3 days listening, learning and working towards improving my leadership skills.
 
I have never thought of myself as a leader before this weekend. I thought a leader was someone who always took charge, someone who spoke the loudest, or maybe even an authoritarian type of person. I’m not that kind of person. I hang back and follow while sometimes helping people along but I never really thought of this being leadership.
 
Throughout this weekend I learned that Annaleise Carr would not have been able to swim across the lake if she had given up when things got tough, cold, or tiring. I learned through Joel Hilchey anyone can be a leader.  I learned that leadership can be developed while working on group presentations, just as much as leadership can be developed while working as a team on a high ropes course.
While at SlapShot, I got frustrated at myself, to the point of tears, because I didn’t know how to help better our group presentation. In a panic I sought advice from my Dad and he texted me the following: “sometimes you just need to breathe and let go….. Being a leader is not always about who is in control or who is right…. Don’t lose the moment in an act of stubbornness, find your balance.”
 
Did that ever hit a nerve and somehow I was able to see more clearly what the weekend was all about.
 
There are leaders who stay in the group and encourage the ones beside them and the leaders who take charge of the whole group.  A leader is a person who brings people together to reach their paths by being their support and guide. A good leader inspires and educates but also learns. You don’t have to be the loudest in a group or the one always in front to be a leader, you just have to be the one who encourages others to move forward, the one who understands what others are fearing so you can help them find their own way past it and continue.
 
The one who uses the available resources around them to accomplish a task. A leader is someone who strives to bring people to the point where they don't’ depend on them as much. And as I write this it hits me that texting my Dad was not a cop out or an escape I was using the resources available to me. After all isn't that what a good leader does?
 
Many people at camp said they would start clubs in their schools and continue to improve their leadership skills.  Now I ask myself, “What am I going to do with this new skill set?”
 
I’ve always thought I needed to be ready to do something but now I realize, it's just an excuse.  Is one ever truly ready? In order to improve myself, I have to step out of my comfort zone.  I have to learn to have faith in myself.  Faith that, no matter the obstacles in my way, I will overcome them.
 
I have learned more about myself in 3 days than I have in the past school year. I will continue to look for and take opportunities and classes that will encourage me and inspire me to be the leader that I want to become.
I don’t want to be the loudest voice in the room, I want to be the person everyone is listening to even if I'm whispering....”
 
Rotary changes lives. Rotary develops leadership skills. SlapShot starts young leaders on a path that will change their lives. I forecast Rotary will flourish in District 7090 when we, Rotarians, help our youth to develop into caring individuals who sparkle with life and see no boundaries as to where life will lead them.   As the youth flourishes - so does District 7090!
 
A special thank you to all the Rotarians and volunteers who spent countless hours putting together this year's SlapShot!