Paulding County Rotary Club president, John Grant brought the meeting to order, thanking all our guests for their attendance. After updating the members on the schedule of events, Mr. Grant turned the podium over to Jim Henson. Former educator, Mr. Henson thanked all the educators from the Paulding County school system for their enthusiasm in establishing a successful Interact program. Mr. Henson expressed his excitement at the prospect of sponsoring these Interact clubs with local high schools. After an introduction, Mr. Henson yielded the podium to past Rotary Club president, Brian Stover who introduced Mrs. Alicia Michael as the club guest speaker.
Mrs. Michael, former Rotary District 6900 Governor, stepped to the podium and thanked everyone for their participation and interest in the Rotary Interact club. Mrs.. Michaels was very excited to see so many guests from local schools in attendance. She seemed extremely positive and encouraged as she began to explain the goals of Interact clubs.
The purpose of Interact clubs is to connect with students and young people between the ages of 12 and 18 in an effort to help them develop leadership skills as they participate in and complete a minimum of two service projects. One project a local initiative and the other being internationally based. Through these activities, students will develop leadership skills and personal integrity while learning the value will of helpfulness and respect for others.
Through the Interact club, students will be able to interact with and learn from community leaders through mentoring opportunities. As a starting point, Interact clubs will be given a Constitution and set of bylaws with which to structure their themselves. The sponsoring Rotary Club will provide support and guidance as the students form a self-governing and self-supporting club. There are approximately 21,000 and Interact clubs active with almost 480,000 participating members and 159 different countries. Sponsoring Rotary Clubs recognize this is an extremely important investment in the future. In addition to the opportunities and skills that the Interact club promotes, students will also become aware of Rotary scholarships and other leadership programs such as RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, a leadership camp for high school juniors). Beyond the local experience, student club members will be exposed to international culture as they meet and exchange with other Interact clubs around the world.
Mrs. Michael concluded the presentation by answering questions about the Interact program from visiting teachers and club members. In closing, she thanked everyone for their support and enthusiasm in starting these Interact clubs in Paulding County. To find out more about Interact clubs please follow the web links below.
https://www.rotary.org/en/get-involved/interact-clubs
https://www.facebook.com/pg/interactofficial