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Youth leaders share stories<br>of activities at Camp Pinerock

The Grand Canyon Rotary Club Thursday heard from two of the three local students who attended the annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Leadership Conference at Camp Pinerock near Prescott over Martin Luther King Day weekend.

Rotary Youth Leadership Award candidates included from left, front: Julie Haughton, Nikki Harvey, Kristin Gabaldon, Janna Barth; back, Danny Vincent, Kevin Beckerleg.

Kristin Gabaldon, Kevin Beckerleg and Nikki Harvey attended the event. Julie Haughton, Janna Barth and Danny Vincent were alternates and also attended last week’s Rotary meeting as guests of honor.

"For me, the big challenge was the high ropes course 50 feet off the ground," Gabaldon said. "It gave me a little bit of confidence for exceeding expectations."

Gabaldon also went over the other various activities, including a session on leadership and communication where participants had 45 to 90 seconds to answer questions.

"Every time we said ‘um’ or ‘ah’ they would ring a bell," Gabaldon said with a smile. "That was awful."

But the activity also helped Gabaldon with social skills, adding "I tend to step away from meeting new people ... the whole thing was really great."

Beckerleg went over the day-by-day activities, including things that went on in the evenings.

"We had guest speakers on various topics," Beckerleg said before giving details on an inspirational man without arms and mentally challenged. "He talked about how to get past obstacles and hurdles."

Students participated in square dancing on the evening of Jan. 18 and on the following night, they had a campfire, hay ride and karaoke.

Gabaldon also gave details of beginning a new type of interact club at Grand Canyon through the help of a Rotary adviser.

"The objective is to involve youth in community activities," Gabaldon said. "Nicky (Lindig) and I have talked about starting one here in the school and community. There is a lot of youth who want to be involved in something. This could include not only community services, but also hiking, for example."

Gabaldon said the club would also include a couple of adults for supervision purposes.

Mallory Smith, Rotary Club president, told the students she hoped they can create such an activity through RYLA "and bring that back to the community."

The club was unable to send all six students to RYLA because of limitations. But the three who did attend represented the largest contingent ever from Grand Canyon.


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