May is here and for Rotary it is Youth Service Month. For our club we provide college scholarships and support RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards). RYLA is a leadership camp for young people, fostering teamwork, communication, and service through interactive activities.

Many of us will attend graduation ceremonies over the next month, I had the privilege of attending my son’s graduation from U of U with his MBA this last weekend. Education and youth development doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and we can all play a part in fostering education. The building and growing of youth takes many forms, coaching youth sports teams, encouraging kids at decision points, providing a good example, donating to scholarships, and facilitating internships at your place of work. Speaking of internships, as I observe the interns we have had at Idaho Falls Power, they have all given me confidence for the future.

Our community and state have an array of options for the next generation. In June we will have a Rotary Club meeting at CEI and see some of those options. In addition, there are apprenticeship opportunities for the craft trades and State Colleges for more traditional career paths.

Partway through my college career I took a couple of quarters off to work and wasn’t sure I would go back. Then John Peterson, a family friend, pulled me aside and gave me the talk that made the difference in going back and completing my Engineering Degree.

I would encourage all of you to invest in the next generations, whether that is donating to the Club scholarships by using he QR codes at your lunch table or taking a little while to talk with youth in your life about the long-term rewards that result from sacrifice and hard work today.

Thanks for all of you in our great club and all that you do in our community.

In Fellowship,