By Khalida Sarwari
From speech contests to leadership conferences and scholarships, the Saratoga Rotary is offering plenty of programs and activities to keep young people busy over the next couple of months.
Saratoga and Prospect high school students are among 60 high school juniors selected to participate in the Enterprise Leadership Conference in Pacific Grove March 12-14. The juniors, who also hail from high schools in Campbell, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Los Altos, are invited to take part in a conference on the principles of business in the American free enterprise system.
The conference has the students divide into teams of six, with three boys and three girls on each team, to create a business plan for a new product or service.
In creating their plans, the students are assisted by a number of prominent leaders from the business community in areas of product development, sales, marketing, finance, human resources, management structure and distribution. They are then judged by senior Rotarian businesspeople.
After the conference, the students are asked to give another presentation to the Rotary clubs in their respective cities and then return the following year as seniors to share their experiences during the recruitment process. In Saratoga, the winning teams will be giving their presentations at the regular Rotary meeting on March 21 at 1 p.m. at the Joan Pisani Community Center.
Another Rotary initiative that involves local Saratoga students is a speech contest. The first round was held in early February and will be followed by another round on Feb. 25 at EMQ FamiliesFirst in Campbell.
“The whole idea [of the speech contest] is for kids to become familiar with what the Rotary is, which is service above self,” said Saratoga Rotary Club member Shinku Sharma. “The kids have to use those ideas in their speeches.”
For those who’ve missed the boat on the conference and contest, there is still time to enter for a chance at a chunk of a $10,000 scholarship that the Rotary is offering to students at Saratoga and Prospect high schools. Two students from each school will be selected to receive $2,500 scholarships each toward their college education.
Rotary is looking for students who not only have a financial need but are involved in their school community, have demonstrated leadership and are well-rounded, according to Sharma. The application deadline is March 14, and application forms are available at each school.
There are just a few more activities cooking on the Rotary stove. In August, the Rotary will host yet another conference, the Youth Leadership Academy, geared specifically toward students who are planning to run for the vice president and president positions of any club at their school.
It’s not just high school students that are the beneficiaries of Rotary programs. West Valley College students might be happy to learn that the Rotary will begin offering scholarships to those who cannot afford to buy textbooks for their classes.
For more information about the Saratoga Rotary Club, visit saratogarotary.org.
