 Derby Interact L-R: Dr. Matthew Conway Jr. (superintendent), Ms. Carlin Ali (advisor), Breanna Perez (president), Sophie Mraz (vice-president), Ava Umpierre (treasurer), Gabe Tovar (co-secretary), Jayson Drayton (co-secretary and RYLA attendee), Shirley Diglio-Guerrette (RYLA attendee), Ms. Jennifer Moffat (advisor), and Mrs. Jennifer Olson (DHS Principal). |
 Shelton Interact: Shelton: Mrs. Kathleen Riddle (SHS principal), Mrs. Lynn Giordano (advisor), Akshita Upadhyay (secretary), Mallory Bohrer (vice-president), Savana Ostrosky (president), Dr. Kenneth Saranich (superintendent) |
The Derby-Shelton Rotary Club welcomed a very impressive group of students from the Derby and Shelton High School Interact clubs at the weekly meeting on January 29. The officers of each club received their special officer pins and the presidents of both clubs as well as students who attended the recent RYLA convention also spoke about their experiences.
The students from the schools were also joined by the Superintendents of Schools (Dr. Matthew Conway & Kenneth Saranich) and Principals of the schools (Jen Olson and Kathleen Riddle) who have been great supporters of the programs. The Club is also very thankful for Carlin Ali and Jennifer Moffat in Derby and Lynn Giordan in Shelton who are the faculty advisors for the clubs.
Jayson Dayton & Shirley Diglio-Guerrette
Rotarian Gary Scarpa, who is a former educator at Shelton High School, served as the master of ceremony for the luncheon. Gary is also the Youth Services Chair for the Club. He opened the program by introducing Jayson Drayton and Shirley Diglio-Guerrette who spoke about their experiences attending the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) held at Connecticut College last November. RYLA is District 7980’s leadership training program for young men and women in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 (Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors & Seniors). RYLA is held twice a year, in the fall and spring. RYLA is an internationally recognized program, attended by over 9,000 young adults each year, who are sponsored by Rotary Clubs in more than 25 countries. Derby-Shelton was pleased to have such outstanding students represent our Club this past year.
Gary then presented officer pins to the leaders of the two clubs. Vidhi Awadaria, treasurer of the Shelton Club was not able to attend the luncheon, but was also recognized and will receive her pin.
Derby Officers
Shelton Officers
Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self. There are 14,911 Interact Clubs in 145 different countries. There are 342,953 members!