Dear School Administrator:

Your local Rotary Club invites your school to select 8th grade students to attend the Rotary District 5340 LEAD Conference at San Diego County Office of Education’s Cuyamaca Retreat Center. The LEAD Conference has been held annually since 2009. LEAD is the acronym for Leadership, Ethics, Aspirations & Determination. The LEAD conference offers a leadership experience to 8th grade students and encourages them to excel at life. There will be activities specific to developing leadership skills, making reasonable choices when faced with everyday ethical dilemmas, and setting and achieving goals. Students will appreciate the outdoors and will make long lasting friends. The LEAD website has the date for this year’s event and contains additional information about the program. The LEAD brochure, found on the drop-down menu under School, may be duplicated for school staff, students, and parents.

The LEAD Committee asks each participating school to select an equal number of boys and girls to attend LEAD (e.g., one boy and one girl, two boys and two girls, etc., depending on how many students your sponsoring Rotary Club authorizes) and one boy and one girl to be alternates. Student selection should take into account past leadership experience, the potential for future leadership, the ability to collaborate with others, service activities, and the desire for academic success. The Student Selection Criteria found on the No-Cost Leadership Program page (see the drop-down menu under School), has a more detailed description of the selection criteria. Since the LEAD Conference will occur in October, student selection should be completed by September 11 so that students can apply no later than September 15.

District 5340 has engaged variety of inspirational speakers and professional motivational trainers to lead the conference. The District 5340 LEAD Committee is confident that it has developed a valuable and entertaining program. There will be 20 Rotarians serving as conference Advisors who have been selected for their experience in guiding youth activities. Each Rotarian must have a background check and LEAD training before serving as an Advisor.

There is no cost to the student, to the family, or to the school. All expenses are paid by the Rotary Clubs of District 5340. Students will be transported to and from the LEAD Conference on professionally driven busses with current state, federal, and CHP required certifications.

We sincerely hope your school will participate in the LEAD Conference. Due to camp limitations, only select schools have been invited to participate. Our goal is to have students attend from as many different school districts and geographical areas as is feasible. If your school elects not to send students to the LEAD Conference, please notify your sponsoring Rotary Club without delay so that another school can be invited to participate.

Rotary International information is available at Rotary.org and Rotary District 5340 information is available at rotary5340.org. Please feel free to contact me about LEAD.

Kind regards,

Jim Piburn
LEAD Committee Chair
james.piburn_plrc@yahoo.com