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Rotary Club of Ojai Youth Services
 
 
Youth Services main focus is offering teenagers support in exploring what they want to do with their lives to become productive citizens, and how their goals relate to their college and vocational paths.  We especially look for ways to provide ways for kids with less opportunity and financial resources to explore options.
 
Rotary Club of Ojai funds items and programs that help kids, arranges adult support and mentoring for youth in Ojai Valley, and provides enrichment and leadership opportunities for youth. 
 
 
Rotary Club of Ojai has funded the following:
 
  • Bus transportation for a field trip for C.O.P.A. (Comunidad de Orientacion Pro-Academica) to visit California State University Channel Islands.  Spanish-speaking parents and their junior high and high school students from Ojai Unified School District will meet with CSUCI counselors and tour the campus, so both parents and students feel more comfortable about the possibility of attending a four-year college.
 
  • Video enrichment for Nordhoff High School’s College and Career Foundations course for all freshmen:
 
  • An introductory video made at NHS to describe the new program to incoming students and their parents, and staff, and the community.
 
  • Longevity filming of freshmen describing the results of their career exploration during their first semester class, including their career goals in 10 years and their plan for achieving these goals.  Students will be filmed again in their senior year, describing their goals and plans after graduation.
 
  • Tool storage shed for the horticulture vocational training program at Chaparral High School.
 
  • New sound system in Matilija Junior High School Auditorium that dramatically improves sound quality of sound for both school and community events, and 3 high quality individual lavaliere microphones for Nordhoff High School Music and Theater departments, for a total of $6000 in sound equipment. Students and community groups received training in the use of the sound equipment. (Purchased in collaboration with Rotary Club of Ojai West with Rotary district grants.) 
 
 
 
 
Rotary Club of Ojai provides adult support and mentoring for youth:
 
  • “Connecting with Careers” – Career exploration day for graduating seniors at Nordhoff High School.  Seniors from Chaparral High School, Oak Grove School, and Ojai Valley School are also invited. 
    • 40 adults from various vocations meet with 200 students in small groups to tell students about their jobs, income potential, education and training requirements, and answer students’ questions. 
    • Students choose four areas of interest, and spend 20 minutes in each group to sample several different career options during the morning.
 
  • Informal panels by local employers for Chaparral students to talk about the jobs most available in the Ojai Valley: building trades, independent small businesses, hospitality, and health care
 
 
 On-going volunteer opportunities with youth include:
 
  • Rotary Tutors.  Fourteen Rotary and community volunteers regularly help teachers and give individual attention to identified students in classrooms at three public elementary schools.
 
  • Identifying local volunteers in all vocational fields as resources to talk to high school students about various career options, as requested by local schools.
 
Rotary Club of Ojai provides leadership and enrichment opportunities for youth in the Ojai Valley:
 
  • Sponsors two students for RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards).  RYLA is a weekend camp that provides, fun, motivation, and leadership development for high school sophomores and juniors with leadership potential.