The Vocational and Youth Service Committee seeks to promote excellence and the highest ethical standards across all professions, to affirm the value of every meaningful occupation, and to apply members’ vocational talents in service to the community. The committee also supports local youth through Rotaract at Shepherd University and Interact at Jefferson High School, and by partnering with organizations dedicated to improving the lives of young people in Jefferson County, West Virginia.

The Committee’s ongoing projects include:

• First Grade Reading Program promotes literacy in the community by sustaining a first-grade reading program in Jefferson County’s neediest schools (a project conducted jointly with the Rotary Club of Charles Town). Rotary volunteers go into these schools several times a year to read to first-graders; each child then gets a free copy of the book that was read to keep as their own.
• Rotary Reads provides grants to Shepherdstown educational institutions to support special projects that promote reading among children of all ages.
• Vocational Service Award, is an annual award presenting an individual in the community who exemplifies the Rotary motto of “Service above self.” These awards are presented in the fall.

• Back to School Backpack Project provides hundreds of students in financial need with a backpack filled with school supplies at the beginning of each school year
• Eastern Panhandle Reading Program is a joint program with all the Rotary clubs in Eastern Panhandle that gives every second grader in in Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan counties a stack of free books for summer reading.

• RYLA, Rotary Youth Leadership Award, is Rotary’s leadership training program for young people. RYLA participants can be ages 14-30, but most clubs and districts choose to focus on a narrower age range, such as 14-18 or 19-30.
• Rotaract is the collegiate level of Rotary. The Shepherdstown Rotary Club sponsors an extremely active Rotaract Club housed at Shepherd University.
• Interact is the high school level of Rotary. The Shepherdstown Rotary Club is currently in the preliminary stages of discussing the creation and sponsorship of an Interact Club in one of our county’s high schools. The goal would be for Rotaract students as well as Rotary members to serve as role models and possible mentors for these high school students.
• Rotary Youth Exchange: Students are given the opportunity to spend up to a year living with a few host families and attending school in a different country.

Additionally, the Vocational and Youth Services Committee sponsors local activities that improve the lives of our area youth. Some programs include:

• Velociraptors Mountain Bike Youth Program
• Opportunity Learning Center
• A. Lowrey Elementary School’s Candy Cane Express
• Shepherdstown Middle School’s Robotics Team
• MEDlife at Shepherd University

These service projects are made possible by two annual fundraisers:

• Wine-Tasting Dinner: held in early spring at the Bavarian Inn.
• Craft Beer Festival: held each fall at Morgan’s Grove Park.