RUMFORD — Two students from Regional School Unit 10 received a life-changing lesson from camp this past summer.
Sam Cote of Dirigo High School in Dixfield and Morgan O’Neil-Gordon of Mountain Valley High School in Rumford were sponsored by the Rumford Rotary Club to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award conference in July at Camp Hinds in Raymond.
Both students have been members of the Rotary Interact Club since they were freshman.
“It was one of those life-changing experiences,” O’Neil-Gordon said. “You grow in ways you didn’t even know you could.”
According to the rotary youth leadership website, the purpose of the conference is to introduce students to thoughts, ideas and experiences which, if put into practice, will help develop and enhance leadership skills.
“We did a lot of outside activities that were team-building exercises,” Cote said.
Cote’s older sister, who graduated from Dirigo last year, was also an Interact member and had attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Award conference.
“She said she loved it and I wanted to go, too,” she said.
Cote said she learned to be a more effective leader by listening to other people. She also said she was required to participate in public speaking.
“It definitely made me step out of my comfort zone,” she said.
O’Neil-Gordon said the lessons she learned she could take anywhere.
“You can use it in sports, school, working with groups and even your personal life,” she said. “It teaches you to take initiative and to lead by example.”
Interact adviser Becky Skibitsky said the conference is a great tool for the members and she hopes students who attend can demonstrate what they’ve learned to their peers.
The Rumford Rotary Club sponsors one student for the conference each year from Dirigo High School and Mountain Valley High School.
Both girls said they still keep in contact with the friends they made through conference and would recommend it to other students.
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- Sam Cote, a sophomore at Dirigo High School, wearing the number 12, helps to lift a team member over a wall at the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Conference this past July at Camp Hines in Raymond. The four-day conference is geared toward teaching youth team building and leadership skills through outdoor activities. Cote said it was a life-changing experience.
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- Morgan O’Neil-Gordon, a sophomore at Mountain Valley High School, gives a thumbs up with a group of students who attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Award conference this past July at Camp Hines in Raymond. The four-day conference is geared toward teaching team building and leadership skills to youth through outdoor activities.
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