From the April 2012 District 6880 Dispatch, a newsletter for Rotarians in south Alabama…
It is hard to believe that this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp is over. For the 7th year RYLA was held at Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults (ASCCA) on Lake Martin. This year’s camp is one that will be a lasting memory for the nearly 70 youths who were in attendance from Rotary District 6880. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors from private and public schools throughout the district came together for three and one-half days to participate in team building and leadership strengthening exercises. Darren Glass (Demopolis), Molly Smart (Mobile West), Steve James (Jackson), Tracey Couling (Mobile Sunrise), and Dick Perl (Mobile
Sunrise) served as this year’s Rotary chaperones.
As usual, Matt Rickman and his staff at Camp ASCCA welcomed participants the first evening with ice breakers that kept every participant running and laughing late into the evening. Participants quickly discovered what they had in common with others in attendance. In many organizations people often focus on the differences among people. In Ice breakers, the students
learn that it is often what is not instantly observable that is what people have in common. Commonalities range from how you squeeze your toothpaste tube, in the middle or from the end,
to how you load toilet paper on the dispenser, over or under.
Throughout the three and one-half days participants listened to speakers and participated in activities that stressed the importance of communication. Brent Crosby spoke to the students about the
struggles of being a “Today’s Leader” and the difficulty of making the right decisions when the right decisions are not popular. Al Mathis presented the history of the Four-Way Test and challenged the
students to memorize and recite the Four-Way test to earn a small reward for their effort. Allison Wetherbee, Community Relations Director for Camp ASCCA, who was born with no arms or legs, briefed the participants on the history of Camp ASCCA. Ms. Wetherbee shared with the students her earliest memory of being a
camper at ASCCA and how her time at camp as child is one of the fondest memories of her childhood. Ms. Wetherbee impressed upon the group that it is not things, arms, legs, or, other items that can or will make you happy. She told them to be careful not to rely on others or things to make you happy but instead find your happiness from within. continued…
We at Camp ASCCA look forward to hosting this group next year!
Located in Alabama on Lake Martin, Camp ASCCA offers campers a wide variety of traditional recreational and educational activities with a unique design for accessibility.
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