Rhys and Brogan from the Livingston secondary school for children with additional support needs earned places in the prestigious Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) programme recently.
RYLA is a leadership adventure camp with young people building their communication skills and problem-solving abilities. There are opportunities to discover strategies for becoming dynamic leaders in school as well as learning from community learners, inspirational speakers, and peer mentors. Most importantly, there was lots of fun and an opportunity to form lasting friendships.
Both boys showed great resilience and confidence at interview and throughout the RYLA experience at Castle Douglas, with Rhys awarded the John Mair Award (the highest accolade at RYLA) for achieving the highest degree of personal development over the course of the programme by his peers.
A special presentation was held at the school recently to mark the achievement of both boys, with His Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of West Lothian, Moira Niven MBE, John McOrmish from RYLA and Paddy and Lizette Bingham from the Rotary Club of Livingston among the special guests.
Cedarbank Headteacher Andrew Millar said: "At Cedarbank School, we aspire for all our children to have a sense of belonging and to feel included, to grow their independence and learn new skills in school, at home and in the community.
"We also love to celebrate the wonderful achievements of our learners and support our children to have a sense of pride in everything that they do.
"Rhys and Brogan have fully demonstrated our school values of Belong, Grow and Achieve, and everyone in the Cedarbank family is immensely proud of both boys.
"Thanks to the Rotary Club of Livingston for supporting the school to be able to offer such a wonderful experience for Rhys and Brogan."
