RYLA Aplications 2023

Personal Data

Rotary Club: Kearney Rotary Clubs

Sam J Stava

Female

Junior

School – Kearney High School

Primary Phone Number – 308.440.5789

6615 9th Ave place Kearney, NE 68845

Kearney, NE 68845

Parent/Guardian Information

Angie Stava

308.440.4342

ajkrat@hotmail.com

Relationship – Mother

Vision

Please explain what you hope to gain by participating in RYLA.

By going to RYLA, I wish to gain insightful knowledge about becoming a better leader in my community and daily life. This would be an amazing opportunity to meet new peers and role models to share ideas with and learn from. Being around other people with a similar goal of making the world a better place will help stimulate new ideas to bring back to our schools and towns. Going to RYLA would help me grow as a person, set new goals for my future and make plans to achieve them.

Rotary’s motto is “service above self.” What does that mean to you?

Throughout my entire life, I remember being taught to do good for our community through volunteering and donating to organizations that help those less fortunate than I am. I have grown up knowing that service is a part of life we just do in order to help those around us. As I have began to form my own opinions about life and my environment, this is an idea that has continued to rapidly grow. I spend many days a month, both weekends and weekdays, volunteering and oraznizing service events with different organizations I am a part of. Helping others is not something that should be done to make one person feel better about themself, it should be done to help others with less opportunities and grow our community to its fullest potential. To me the quote “service above self” is very important in a building a happy, healthy, and welcoming place to live.

Past and Current Experience

Have you ever volunteered before? – Yes

List any past or present volunteer experiences including dates volunteered and position responsibilities.

– Key Club
– I have been a Key Club member for three years, the sophmore class representative for one, vice president for one, and a member of Builder’s Club (the middle school equivalent) for three years.
– Each month, I help organize a planning/executive meeting to prepare for our monthly member meeting, where we do a service project, and a few volunteer opportunities in Kearney throughout the month. A few examples of our monthly service project include volunteering at the Kearney Crossroads thrift store, singing Christmas carols for the homeless and elderly in assisted living facilities, picking up trash, having a jean drive, collecting Christmas presents for less fortunate children, raising money for Nebraska Special Olympics, and much more. Some examples of our service meetings include making holiday cards for the elderly, making dog toys for the animal shelter, cleaning local parks, and more.
– For the last two years, I have organized the Kearney High “Scare Away Hunger Trunk or Treat” with another Key Club officer. I was in charge of organizing, promoting, and advertising. We ask for a food donation or money at the entrance to donate to the Kearney Jubilee Center.
– Student Council
– I have been a very active member for three years in high school and for three years in middle school
– I am a part of Student Council where we do many service projects. During a typical month, we complete one volunteer project, including organizing and running food drives and blood drives, making blankets for the homeless shelter, or decorating our school to promote school spirit.
– Green team
– I am a co-president of the KHS Green team and have been a member for the last two years. In this club, we work together to eco-brick (build plastic bricks out of recycled water bottles and wrappers in order to build an outdoor learning environment at our school instead of filling landfills with plastic), and pick up trash around town many times throughout the year.
– Church
– I go to St. James Catholic Church where I have frequently volunteered with child care during parent classes, teaching Wednesday night classes, serving meals, and more for many years.
– Sibling Project
– My sisters and I raised money to buy activities and snacks for the siblings of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at our two local hospitals so parents can stay with and take care of all of their kids at the same time.
– Pads for the People
– Two friends and I started an organization where we raised money and collected donation of menstrual feminine products to help those in our school whose familys struggle to afford necessary products.
– Buffalo County Youth Advisory Board
– I was accepted into this organization in 2020 and I have been a member since. We work to build up our community through bringing awareness to topics that need to be addressed and need people to support. We have planned community events bringing attention to mental health, learned about different Nebraska bills in the legislature, and are working on much more for our community.
– Youth Leadership Kearney
– Youth Leadership Kearney is group of high school juniors that are accepted through a selective application process. We get the opportunity to learn about different aspects of ourselves, states, cities, and more. As a student body, we are planning inclusive events for students in Kearney that do not speak English as their first language to feel more comfortable and welcome in their schools and communities.
– Hope Squad
– The Hope Squad is a suicide prevention and mental health awareness club at Kearney High that I was voted onto by my peers. We have been trained to help those struggling with suicidal thoughts and have brought awareness and forms of help into our school.

Do you currently have a job? – Yes

List up to three past or current paid job experience including dates employed and responsibilities. Start with your most recent

– YMCA
– Summer of 2022-present
– Teach kids the basics of running, playing basketball and soccer
– Teach kids to have fun with sports, to be good teammates, play by the rules
– Tropical Sno
– Summer of 2022-present
– Treat customers, authority, and co-workers respectfully, correctly make and flavor shaved ice, stay calm with a long line of customers
– Nanny
– Summer of 2022-present
– Keep 4 children entertained throughout the day most days of the work week, keep them safe, feed them lunch, help them read and do summer workbooks

Have you received any awards or honors? – Yes

List awards or recognitions that you received for academic, school, or community activities beginning in the 7th grade

– 8th grade presidential academic award
– 3x track varsity letter winner
– 3x cross country varsity letter winner
– 2nd place in state in PowerPoint certification test
– All As Honor Roll 6th grade-present
– Key Club kiwanis member of the month
– 2x lifter of the month award
– 2x Heartland Academic All-Conference Award
– Academic All State for Cross Country

Have you participated in extracurricular activities or organizations? – Yes

Please list, in order of importance to you, any school, religious, social, athletic, hobbies or other activities or organizations which you have participated in since the 7th grade

– Varsity Track and Cross Country
– Student Council
– Key Club
– Green Team
– Youth Group/Confirmation
– National Honors Society
– Youth Leadership Kearney
– Buffalo County Youth Advisory Board
– FCA
– Hope Squad
– FCCLA