Area student represents TMI at Rotary conference

Jan. 25, 2011 - PRLog -- Dale Fastle of Boerne, a junior at TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas, was chosen to represent TMI at the Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly (RYLA) conference, Jan. 14-17, at the John Newcomb Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels.

Chosen by their schools on the basis of leadership potential, 160 juniors from more than 50 high schools attended the conference, sponsored by Rotary International District 5840 of Central Texas. An additional 32 seniors who attended the previous year returned as team leaders.

With presentations by guest speakers, workshops and team-building exercises, the conference delegates spent the weekend exploring ideas about leadership, with breaks for the RYLA Olympics games, entertainment and a dance.

In large- and small-group discussions, students learned about the qualities that make a successful leader. Other exercises “helped us identify our own good qualities and how to strengthen our skills in other areas,” said Fastle, who is founding president of an animal-welfare group at TMI, has performed starring roles in school theater productions and plays varsity women’s soccer. Her conference experience, she said, “makes me want to take a more active role, being positive toward other people and encouraging them to develop their own leadership qualities.”                                                                                                                                          
While the RYLA program is implemented throughout Rotary, the local conference may be the only one that is student-led, says Diana Plummer, a 17-year member of the sponsoring district’s RYLA committee. “To my knowledge, our conference is unique in that we invite students from the previous year to serve as team leaders. We give them a lot of responsibility, under supervision, for organization during the conference, and the students love it.”

Through the annual conference, says Plummer, “We hope to give students with potential an opportunity to build leadership skills that will help them and their schools and will prepare them for life.”

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Founded in 1893, TMI is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory school for grades 6-12, with optional Junior ROTC and boarding programs. For information, visit www.tmi-sa.org or call 698-7171.