How Rotary Clubs Get Involved

Participating in District 5240’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and How to Sponsor a Student

The process for getting your club involved in RYLA is simple. We have done our best to make the process easy to understand and implement. If you can not find the answer on the website or need help finding the information RYLA Administration is available to help: admin@ryla5240.org.

  1. Your Club President must decide who is going to be the RYLA coordinator for your club.
  2. Your Club must decide early in the Rotary year how many students it would like to send to this annual event. Since this is a budget item, it generally must be voted on or accepted as a continuing commitment. The cost per student is currently set at $495.00 plus donation to RYLA scholarship fund noted below.
  3. RYLA 5240 Scholarship fund. Based on number of students being sent, each participating club must donate a minimum of: 1 to 4 spaces, $15 minimum per space. 5+ spaces, $100 minimum total contribution. A larger amount is helpful to help us sustain this wonderful opportunity for our youth.
    • Each year the event will grant eight $500 RYLA 5240 Scholarships towards ongoing education to eight outstanding students.
  4. Once your club has decided how many students they are sending, you must log on to the website (www.RYLA5240.org) and reserve the appropriate number of spaces and indicate the amount of the scholarship contribution. Use your RYLA Coordinators’s contact info. The coordinator is expected to act as the liaison between the school, the the student and the RYLA Administration. Most communication is done via email so please be certain to enter accurate address that is in use by the coordinator. The maximum number of spaces you can reserve is ten. The maximum number of students who can attend RYLA is 240.
  5. To guarantee your spaces your club must send in the payment by October 30. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Refunds may be made for unused spaces if determined by January 30. Student drop outs after February 15 will incur a $100 material fee. Student drop outs after April 1 will not be refunded. Any Club can direct unused payments to the RYLA Scholarship fund in lieu of refund.
  6. Select the students your Club believes are deserving of this honor. The District has provided some guidance with this selection process if you do not already have a selection process in place. A Student Selection Guideline document may be downloaded from this site.
  7. Discuss RYLA with the student’s parents, the school Principal, Teacher or Advisor. Make sure the school is aware of RYLA. Get approval for the students to attend from the school and the parents/guardians. Make every effort to clarify the importance of the registration deadlines and the student’s responsibility to be ready to attend. Missed deadlines can move students to a waiting list. Students must understand what they are committing to and be aware that should they be unable to attend they must contact their club coordinator immediately to ensure time needed to fill their space and avoid forfeit of the funds paid. Be certain your selected students have the coordinator’s phone contact when they are notified of their selection.
  8. Once you have selected your students and alternates, direct all of your choices to the website to register. Ensure the Alternates understand their “stand by” status and they are given the link and password for Alternates. Should their status change prior to the event notify Administration and their upgrade will be made by Administration. Send the names of your selections, including designated alternates, to RYLA Admin admin@ryla5240.org as soon as you have finalized it. This list is matched with the online student registrations to ensure accuracy and notify the coordinator of final confirmation. The student list must be submitted by January 1. The student online registration must be completed by January 31st in order to prevent forfeiture of your reserved space. Please have the students fill in their own registration. This process confirms their acknowledgment of the behavior code, rules and timelines. Students must be aware that attendance is required for all four days of the event. They will not be allowed to leave the camp at any time.
  9. Students must download the consent form, fill in and have parent/guardian sign then fax, text or email to Admin. This gives consent for various activities and is mandatory for a student’s attendance. The consent form is due February 15. Late submission jeopardizes the student’s opportunity to attend. The camp maximum capacity is 240 students. We make every effort to fill to capacity, but can not risk too many confirmations. Therefore early payments and registrations along with missed deadlines throughout the process dictate who receives final confirmations.

Arrange transportation to/from the camp for your sponsored students by one of your Club’s members, a parent (If they prefer to transport. Parents should not be obligated to transport their child.), or other responsible adult. Please note, students are not allowed to drive themselves to and from camp. Any student that arrives in their own car will not be admitted into the camp. Student Drop Off Instructions and Student Pick Up Instructions are provided herein for download.