Middle Schoolers Lead
About The Program and a Brief History
The Holland Rotary Leaders for the 21st Century is an annual middle school leadership program that was initiated in 2000. It has been successfully conducted annually (on hiatus in 2020/2021 during the Pandemic).
The Holland & Zeeland Rotary Clubs revived the Leaders Program in 2023 and we are now back in full swing!
The original project was conceived by Tom & Deanna DePree in 2000 as a joint program of the Ottawa County Life Services System, the Rotary Clubs of Holland and Zeeland, and the local school districts. Over the years, students from the Holland, West Ottawa, Zeeland, Holland Christian, Corpus Christi Catholic, and Fennville, and Muskegon Schools have participated.
Rotary Leaders for the 21st Century is today an annual leadership conference conducted at Hope College the second week of June for middle schoolers entering 7th and 8th grades who have been selected by their schools as potential emerging leaders. It continues with further engagement in regular follow-up meetings in the participating schools throughout the school year.
These young people are identified as emerging leaders entering a critical stage of development of identity and are viewed as a group that could benefit from such a unique program beyond the classroom.
The outcomes are clear: emerging Leaders grow into becoming ambassadors for their schools, mentors for younger students, as well as incoming students, taking leads in raising funds for identified needs, and engaging in a host of service projects for their schools and the community as a whole.
This is the promise of today and the hope for tomorrow for Leaders for the 21st Century. Won’t you join us in the building of promising futures?
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We Are Rotary
Rotary International is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision. For nearly 120 years, Rotary’s People of Action have used their passion, energy, and espertise to take action on a number of sustainable, life-saving projects. From literacy and peace to water and health, we are always working to better our world, and we stay committed to the end. We have been instrumental in the worldwide campaign to wipe out the scourge of Polio from every country on earth. Rotarians are guided by a code called the 4-Way Test which asks:
1. Is it the Truth?
2. Is it Fair to All Concerned?
3. Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
4. Will it be Benefficial to all concerned?
Your Local Rotary
We are the local Rotarians from Holland Noon Club, Zeeland Rotary, and Holland Rotary After Hours. We serve the greater Holland/Zeeland area and the world with a host of projects and program such as this conference and participation with nearby
Rotary clubs on a high school leadership conference, the building of the accessible playground at Smalllenburg Park, benches on Windmill Island, welcoming visitors to Tulip Time, and helping out at the Community Action House food store and US31 highway cleanup.
By joining with other Rotary clubs in other parts of the world, Holland & Zeeland Rotary Clubs have helped install water filters in Central America, fund school furniture and ambulances in India, build bathrooms and showers in Ethiopia, and deliver economic and technical assistance to a farming village in Kenya. We worked to deliver a tractor to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and build hoop greenhouses to provide food assistance to the Oglala Lakota there.
Several of our members even jumped out of planes a couple years ago to raise funds and awareness for Rotary International’s effort to eliminate polio worldwide. We are a major player in Heartsafe Holland, providing CPR education and equipment to this community.
Our Youth Counselors
Leaders for the 21st Century is fortunate to have a number of upper high school level counselors who volunteer their time and talents and who have helped to shape and coordinate the program. All of these counselors have been through the Leaders program themselves as middle schoolers, so valued the growth experience that they have chosen to return to the program as volunteers to work with our middle school Leaders. A real testament to the impact of this program.
Counselors guide Leaders through three days of learning experiences in large group and small group settings, providing support, enthusiasm and respect to help our young Leaders step out of their comfort zone by interacting with a variety of new people and situations, including getting a taste of College life, with overnight in a college dorm on the campus of Hope College.
