LHS student Mae Shelton gives presentation to Lamar Rotary Club detailing her experiences at this summer’s Rotary Youth Leadership Academy

Lamar Rotary Club President Courtney Neuhold, left, and RYLA student Mae Shelton at a recent Rotary Club meeting

The following update was supplied to us by Judy Turpin with the Lamar Rotary Club.

Thursday’s Rotary meeting was an inspirational treat.   We had a presentation by Mae Shelton reporting on her experiences with our beloved leadership academy that occurred earlier this summer in Divide, Colorado.  Mila Macias, Allie Rushton, and Hudson Gourley were the others in attendance.  Mae is poised and confident in her own way. She shared how the 4-day experience had an impact on her and how she will apply it to her leadership roles in her various organizations.  We were tickled to have 6 former RYLA alumni in the room.  Braxen Shelton (Mae’s older brother) and Kaedyn Rushton (Kerstin’s daughter) to share how the program influenced them.  Brady Turpin and Traegon Marquez were also present to share how 3 decades and 2 decades of RYLA have guided them.  What was so surprising and fun: at the end, Brett Shelton revealed that he too had been a student in the late 90’s.  Brady and Brett were students on our Lamar Community College campus in the program’s infant years.  As President Courtney stated – those three alumni are a wonderful reminder of the lasting impact Rotary’s investment in youth leadership continues to have in our communities.  The icing on the cake was a surprise visit by Mason Mireles who accompanied his mother Lanie to our meeting.  Mason will be working with the Peace Corp in El Salvador for the next two years.  Come see us some time.  Our club meets every 1^st and 2^nd Thursday at 12 in the Colorado Room at Tavern 1301.  Our upcoming projects will be serving the 911 BBQ in Sept.  Our 3^rd grade dictionary project kicks off in September as well.  Stay tuned for more exciting news from our club.