Did you know that there is a club in town designed to provide opportunities for the youth to help solve problems in their community? Well there are many students from Salida High School already in this organization! This club is called The Sunset Rotary Club, which is a spin off of the Sunrise Rotary club that is already an existing club. The Sunset Rotary is a version of the Sunrise Rotary but to bring youth into the organization.
The Rotary Club is a worldwide organization that makes it possible for people of the community to help solve problems that are in the community. There are actually around 1.4 million people that are a part of this club! So the students of Salida High School decided to make a club branching off of the already established “sunrise rotary club” that is in Salida.
Student Felix Heeter founded this chapter to highlight students but also bring a more flexible option of the Rotary Club to Salida. Because the sunrise rotary club meets in the mornings, Felix wanted to have the meetings of the sunset rotary to be in the evening. This provided a new opportunity for the people of the community.
The Rotary Club is an international club. Being a part of the club provides so many new opportunities and connections that you can have with people. The Rotary is a really tight network. When meeting a new person that is also in the Rotary Club, you already have something in common with this person. You can achieve new friendships and relationships with people just by saying you are a part of the club.
Some of the skills that you may acquire from joining the Rotary Club are project management skills, basic professionalism, communication skills and networking. Heeter said, “You are going to learn new things every time we meet.” So if you love learning new things then this is the club for you!
Not only does the sunset rotary want students but also adults. This gives the older people of the community the chance to be in the Rotary with more flexible times. The adults are basically the mentors of the students in the club. Heeter set up the mentor system within the club to make sure that the students have people to look up to and receive feedback from within the club.
The Sunset Rotary started their first meeting with around three students and about five mentors. Now they are at around 13 consistent total members. They are trying to grow the amount of students in the club in order to continue the club after the already existing members graduate. They are looking for anyone of any age, middle or high school to join the club. However they are also looking for more mentors to join the club. They mostly want high school students that are interested in the club and have enthusiasm towards solving problems in the community.
If you are interested in being a part of the rotary club, there are not many requirements. Heeter explains, “If anyone is remotely interested in joining then just come to one meeting.” Therefore, if you aren’t interested in it then you don’t have to come to another, but Heeter would recommend that you try it out.