Whether they’re reading to children, championing veterans or uplifting children in South America and elsewhere, the club embodies service with purpose and passion, said Wendy Kissel, Rotary District 6670 Interact and Rotaract Chair and a Middletown Rotary member.
Sponsored by the Middletown Rotary Club, the Monroe Interact Club is based at Monroe High School and includes students from grades 7-12.
Rotaract Clubs are for college students.
At Rotary’s foundation is the Four-Way Test:
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
“The purpose of the Interact Club is to follow the Four-Way Test and to give back in service,” Kissel said. “While doing that, they are getting leadership skills to take through life.”
Chartered in 2015, the Monroe Interact Club’s many projects include: volunteering at local nonprofit organizations, teacher training and supplies collections for the Guatemala Literacy program, socks and shoes collections for the Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls program and collecting candy for the Yellow Ribbon Support Center to be shipped to troops overseas.
“This club is student-run. They are in charge of this club,” said Monroe Interact faculty advisor Jeannene Alexander, who is also a Spanish teacher at Monroe High School. “The growth in the students you see is amazing.”
When Alexander was in high school, she served as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Columbia and Costa Rica.
“I can confidently say it changed my life,” she said. “I do like the international aspect of it. I also like how we are local too.”
“I love doing community service. There are so many opportunities to see how I can network with people and contribute to the community. It’s very important to me,” said Breann Bowers, president of the Interact Club and a senior at Monroe High School.
She’s been an Interact member since the 7th grade.
For some Interact members, their first experience with Rotary is attending the annual Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, which is held locally at Camp Kern in Oregonia. There students build confidence and public speaking skills, which they share later in community presentations.
“It’s wonderful how students step up to the plate to make these presentations and help other (Rotary) Clubs develop their Interact Clubs,” Bowers said, adding the Monroe club has helped two other Interact Clubs get established. “Students are so actively taking on these leadership roles.
“I think the Interact Club is a great way to interact with our community,” she said.
Bowers plans to attend Central Michigan University to major in athletic training and pre-physical therapy.
About the Author