Events

RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Program . Camp RYLA is a RotaryDistrict 5170  sponsored event. High School students from all over Bay area are selected to attend RYLA, who demonstrate leadership in school and in the community. Many of the students are from the Interact Clubs.

The Students receive scholarship for 4 days camp to become better leaders, foster better friendship and actively apply what they learn in the camp the lives and communities. RYLA leadership skills ground in the fundamentals of the ‘4 Way Test’.

The first camp in district 5170 was held in June 1984, which was created by group of Rotarians namely Dave Ditto, Dick Hennaing, Rick King, Jerry Pettibone, Bud Meddalena and John Fisher.

Now it has developed into 8 part leadership curriculum overseen by Dr Ed Curramang and taught by the Alumni of Camp RYLA. The counselors are very dedicated and are typically in college or early in their career. They are so enthusiastic about spreading the energy and joy bringing new learning to the campers. The counselors are very dedicated and aspire to become Rotarians in the future.

The campers participate in Speech and Debate, Sports activities ,Skits around camp fire, RYLA Studio with photography, videography, digital-editing and technology skills . In Entertainment they host Tuesday Night Live, in  Band and Choir campers perform using their stage directing talents.

These structured programs help the campers to learn and enhance their skills to perform in the activities of the Camp.

This year the camp was held from June 24 to June 29, 2023 in beautiful Mission Springs Camp and Conference Center Scotts Valley Ca. The Dave Ditto BBQ was on the 28^th June. It was an amazing evening of celebrations with performances by the campers, good food and enjoying the company of fellow Rotarians.

We had sent 3 students this year: Alex and Brandon from Leigh High School and Alina from Los Gatos High School. They will share their learning and fun experience at the meeting.

Jennifer Lin is the new Executive Director of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce as of July, 2023. She grew up in the East Bay town of Danville and is a proud Los Gatos resident since 2019. Jennifer brings to the Chamber a robust background in management and brand strategy consulting. For most of her career, she worked with client organizations to solve their strategic, operational, and branding challenges. In addition, Jernnifer possesses significant non-profit leadership experience from serving on the boards of Bay Area charities that support the arts and children’s causes.

Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from U.C. Berkeley and her Master of Public Administration from Columbia University. In her free time she enjoys hiking locally with her husband Mark and labradoodle Dashi. 

A junior at Los Gatos High School, Kyle is a creative imagemaker from the Bay Area. Growing up in Taiwan in a family of artists, with a dad who was a stage director and world music producer, he saw large scale global music productions from the other side, backstage in the wings of stages in San Francisco, Taiwan, and China. As a biracial teen, Kyle already sees and embodies two completely different worlds – one in English, the other in Chinese. “I see things neither side sees,” he admits. “Both sides really do not cross, but I do cross because I grew up in Taiwan and the US. And that’s what I want to share with the world -- these fascinating insider stories.” Kyle uses filmmaking to tie together “worlds” that often do not cross, putting raw energy that viewers can feel into his shots.

Kyle’s passion for filmmaking ignited in July 2021 when he filmed a 2 minute short about the homeless on the back streets and hidden alleys of San Francisco. By mid-sophomore year, Kyle started his own film production company, LC2 Productions.

He is currently working on a “Fentanyl High” documentary about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning for teens. Interacting with so many different kinds of people, including the diverse communities here in South Bay, now makes him fascinated by cultural anthropology, a field he hopes to study in college.

Don't miss the 21st Annual Los Gatos Rotary Club CrabFest at St. Andrew's Church on Saturday, February 3rd at 5pm. More details will follow.