Five Jefferson High School students traveled to Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, June 12-15 to attend a four-day Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program.

The students who attended are Christian Anderson, Emily Anders, Jordan Dixon-Gross, Cara Anderson, and Terrance Anderson. They are all members of the High School’s new Interact Club, which was founded this spring with assistance from the Rotary Club of Shepherdstown.

Interact clubs are Rotary-inspired service organizations for students ages 12-18. Members have fun while carrying out service projects and learning about the world.

RYLA programs are intensive leadership development programs for high school sophomores and juniors, coordinated by Rotary. They include presentations, workshops, planning exercises, and other activities that focus on such matters as leadership fundamentals and ethics, communications skills, citizenship, and problem solving and conflict management.

Participants are nominated by local Rotary clubs, which pay their expenses.

The RYLA program the JHS students attended is organized annually by Rotary District 7360 for youngsters in Central Pennsylvania, Western Maryland and Northeastern West Virginia.