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For the past nine years the Rockford Downtown Rotary Club created a partnership with Rockford College, Rockford Public School District #205, and the YMCA of Rock River Valley to formulate The Rotary Academy Program, the club’s signature project.   This program was designed to provide eighth grade students with hands-on learning opportunities in a variety of community environments that would enhance and/or develop leadership skills:  team building, problem solving, communication, conflict resolution, personal growth, and goal setting.  The partners agreed that the youth of our community were our future and they would need these skills to be leaders in their school, home, and community.

Each of the seven middle schools In Rockford public school district selected eighth grade students who displayed leadership potential, were not at-risk behaviorally, had good attendance, and were not currently holding leadership roles in their school.  Two hundred and twenty students were chosen to participate in the year-long program.  Each middle school had a faculty Advisor and Rotary members volunteered to be Liaisons with each middle school.  The Liaisons attend their school’s monthly activities, serve as role models for the students, support their schools by encouraging other Rotary members to be actively involved in the program, and offer their time, talent and resources when their school implemented their community service projects.

The Rotary Academy Program kicks off in October with all students participating in a day-long experience at the YMCA’s Camp Winnebago, an outdoor nature camp.   Students take part in a day-long experience that includes hands-on team building activities and the high ropes course.   These challenging activities are led by YMCA staff members who have become familiar with the Rotary  4 Way Test as it is used at the end of each month’s session as a way to process the day’s events.

In November the students are exposed to manners and etiquette through a two hour, hands-on lesson led by Liz Bockman, owner of Everyday Etiquette, with whom Rockford Rotary Club contracts each year.  YMCA staff, Rotary members, and Rockford College Rotaract (Rotary’s college level club) members attend the sessions and learn side-by-side with the students!  As a result of becoming aware of this community business and seeing the change this exposure makes in student behavior, District #205 middle school administrators have since hired   “Miss Manners” to present the manners and etiquette lesson to other students

The month of December is set aside as “Community Service Month”.  During December each Rotary Academy group meets with their Advisor and Liaison to plan and/or to implement a community service project, a required element of the Rotary Academy Program.   Academy students with guidance from their Advisor and Liaison are expected to identify a need, local or global, and then to plan, finance, and implement a community service project to address the need.  Their project could consist of giving their time, raising monetary resources, securing products, or a combination of those actions.  Often the Academy students will conduct more than one community service project and involve all the students in their building—an example of their leadership skills in action.  The beneficiaries of these projects have included homeless children, a variety of local not-for-profit agencies, elderly and disabled individuals living within their school boundaries, animal shelters, and Haiti.  In addition to exemplifying “service above self” the Academy students have become aware of a multitude of local and global issues and organizations in their search for the focus of their project.   This year every Academy Program will plan and implement a community service project that will benefit Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio in the world. 

During the months of January, February and March Rotary Academy students participate in hands-on activities within their school that are designed to develop and/or enhance problem solving, personal growth/goal setting, and conflict resolution skills. YMCA  staff introduce a challenging problem, state the rules, and then allow the students to apply their solution(s), evaluate the result(s) and discuss the process.  None of the problem solving or conflict resolution experiences are done with pencil and paper—it is all experiential learning.  The goal setting lesson is finalized by having each student write personal goals which are gathered and mailed out to each student in May at which time he/she can determine how well they’ve done.

As a means for all Academy students to interact with each other and to involve parents in the program, a Y Night is held on a Saturday night in February.  Every student is invited and encouraged to bring all immediate family members to a no-cost night of fun at the YMCA.  The entire facility is available to them.   YMCA staff members, Advisors and Rotarians attend and engage in a variety of physical activities with the Academy students and their families.   Several additional benefits occur as a result of this:  parents learn more about Rotary,  families become familiar with what the YMCA has to offer, and students get to practice their manners as they introduce each member of their family to an adult greeter. 

In April each middle school group engages in a day-long experience at Rockford College. This is usually the first time these eighth grade students have been on a college campus.  It serves to initiate thinking about post high school plans and goal setting.    While they are on the campus, the students engage in experiential learning that emphasizes team building, communication, and goal setting.  They take a tour of the campus led by Rotaract members, eat lunch in the student cafeteria, and meet with Rotaract members to learn more about what it takes to prepare for college in terms of high school course selection, applying for scholarships and financial aid, and the importance of community service experience in a resume.   

In May a culminating event known as the Final Celebration will be held at Giovanni’s.  Rockford Rotary financially contributes to make it possible for each Academy student and one family member to enjoy a night that includes a formal sit-down dinner, brief remarks by a representative of each partner organization, students’ testimonies, a 4 Way “Test-imonial”, individual awards for demonstrating manners and etiquette, recognition for community service projects, and presentation of a completion certificate accompanied by a 4 Way Test coin.  Additional family members, all Rotarians, city dignitaries, members of the three partner organizations, Rotaract members, and other interested community members are invited to attend this important event.  The Final Celebration is most importantly intended to highlight Academy students for their many personal accomplishments; however, they also have a real life situation in which to utilize their manners and etiquette, hone their communication skills while they visit with those with whom they are seated, and demonstrate their confidence as they publicly share their personal Academy anecdotes which have been known to bring tears to attendees.

The Rockford Downtown Rotary Club through its signature project, Rotary Academy, has annually for nine years made available to over 200 eighth graders in a variety of community environments experiential learning opportunities that are designed to enhance their leadership skills.   The Club believes that with guidance, modeling, support, and investment of time, talents and resources from concerned adults these students will be more prepared to lead Rockford into a positive future.