VOCATIONAL (YOUTH) SERVICES

Youth Services functions under the umbrella of Vocational Service and deals with awards to high school students and the mentoring of these students into the ways of business. This area of Vocational Service puts Altadena Rotarians in touch with students at all levels of education within our community. The following awards programs and competitions allow us as Rotarians and business people to touch the lives of many students in meaningful and lasting ways while providing a friendly and supportive atmosphere for many who are just learning to make presentations in front of groups. Our goal is to make this experience a positive one.

Each of these programs or competitions is chaired by one of our members who volunteers his/her time along with a committee of one or more.

• American Legion Awards - This program provides financial awards for excellence to ROTC participants at local high schools. The commanders of the school units pick their outstanding students for both academic and military achievement.
  
  
• Dewey Merrill Awards - This program provides financial awards to the top achievers in the Junior Achievement / Entrepreneurship Program that our club sponsors at local high schools and learning institutions for Native Americans. In general this award is given to students who have prepared outstanding business plans. The award is named after one of our members who died of a massive heart attack shortly after giving an inspiring presentation to a local JA class.
  
  
• Elementary Schools Awards (aka: 4-Way Test Essay Contest) - This program gives awards to children in local elementary schools who win an essay writing contest that has the contestants look at one of the aspects of their lives through the glass of the Rotary Four-Way Test. All essays are written in the form of a letter.
  
  
• The Four-Way Test Speech Competition - This competition is similar to the Elementary School Awards except it involves high school students, and there are three levels of competition: local club, area and district, with the monitary awards increasing at each level. The first competition is held at our club and our panel of judges decides the winners. In some cases, the area-level competition is also held at our local club. However, the third and final district competition is held at District Conference, close to the end of the Rotary year.
  
  
• Middle School Awards - This program presents awards to an outstanding male and an outstanding female student at an Awards Assembly that we are invited to attend at the end of the school year at local Middle Schools and High Schools.
  
  
• PCC Awards - This program takes place at our club. We present awards to an outstanding student in each of the many areas of study at Pasadena Community College. The award winners are chosen by the members of the PCC faculty.
  
  
• RYLA - RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. In this program, we sponsor four outstanding juniors (2 male and 2 female) at local high schools, who show leadership potential. They attend a weekend leadership conference at Idyllwild, California.
  
  
• Dan Stover Music Awards - The first level of competition takes place at one of our club meetings. Our members are entertained by musicians and vocalists from local schools who perform for us. Then our panel of experts decides the winners who receive a monetary award and go on to the District Conference for further competition.
  
  
• TLC - TLC stands for Teen Leadership Conference. This program is similar to the RYLA program above but for younger students who show potential for leadership. These students are sponsored by our club to attend a weekend leadership conference.