The Oxford Rotary is once again encouraging a new generation of leadership.
The service organization sent four Oxford High School students ? Rob Cerato, Tom Peter, Ellen Martin and Jacqueline Magdaleno ? to the 19th Annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference on May 7-9 at Ridgetown College in Ridgetown, Ontario.
‘It’s just a good thing to do for the students,? said Rotary President Marilyn Duguid after meeting the four Oxford youth representatives for a photo.
The purpose of the leadership conference is to demonstrate the organization’s respect and concern for youth, encourage youth leaders by providing them with a training experience, encourage the continued leadership of youth by youth, and recognize publicly the high qualities of may young individuals.
The three day conference was highlighted by motivational speakers, presentations by Rotary exchange students, and small group projects and presentations. Keynote speakers included media CEO Kevin Stewart; Army translator Amanda Wendell, recently returned from Iraq; and inspirational speaker Sunjay Nath. Just a few of the countries represented by exchange students were Ecuador, Turkey, Belgium, Norway, India and Mexico.
‘We met a lot of people from different countries,? said Magdaleno. ‘We were all from different parts of the world, but we were here and going through the same thing with the same presentations and the same ideas.?
‘It really opened my eyes,? said Peter. ‘The exchange students really taught me a lot about the rest of the world.?
‘I really like having all the foreign exchange students there,? agreed Cerato. ‘The experience really made me start considering wanting to do that.?
The 114 student leaders attending the conference were separated into small groups and asked to work on a presentation that detailed solutions to a current world problem. The different groups presented their ideas as skits to the whole assembly and were judged by conference organizers on their work.
Junior Rob Cerato won an award with his group for their presentation. Cerato said each member received ‘a book of motivational speeches.?
Oxford freshman Ellen Martin received a special opportunity of her own – she was asked by conference organizers to be one of the guest speakers during the banquet and semi-formal dance.
‘That was great,? she said. ‘A girl who had done it last year came up to me and told me that I had a lot of the qualities she saw in herself and wanted to know if I would do it. I was really glad to.
‘It was the best weekend of my life. There has been no comparison,? she later added, barely able to contain her excitement.
All in all, the four Oxford students agreed that attending the leadership conference was one of the best opportunities.
‘Hopefully, Oxford is invited back next year and more students can experience something this unique,? said Peter.
‘I don’t think we could have gotten an experience like that from anywhere else,? concluded Magdaleno. ‘We would all like to say thank you to the Oxford Rotary for the opportunity.?