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06.08.05 From left, Mark Peeler and Miss South Carolina 2001 Jeanna Raney Beasley Erskine College plays host to rotary leadership program Leadership is the focus of a program taking place on the Erskine College and Seminary campus this week. About 80 delegates from upstate high schools throughout Rotary District 7750 are taking part in the annual Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, program director Mark Peeler said. Their high school guidance counselors choose RYLA delegates, he said. District 7750 funds the program, which began Sunday and runs through Saturday. Ten counselors, many of whom are past RYLA delegates, are assisting with the program. During the week, delegates participate in a number of activities, including listening to speakers, interacting in small groups and taking part in various nightly programs. Featured speakers this week include Miss South Carolina 2001 Jeanna Raney Beasley, former University of South Carolina football player and athletic director King Dixon, retired Erskine Seminary professor Dr. Jack Heinsohn and Due West Town Council member, firefighter and church deacon Shane Bradley. "We enjoy doing it," Peeler said. "These are interesting kids who have demonstrated some type of leadership skills at their schools. They are among the best and the brightest." Peeler said the service-oriented mission of Rotary International is tied directly to the idea of leadership, but the most important function of the program is that it allows students to network. "The most important thing the delegates get is interaction with each other," he said. "It's not just a program and speakers." This year's RYLA program slogan is "Life's A Journey, Lead the Way." Speakers focus not only on leadership, but also on coping and developing real life skills. Beasley, for example, talked to the delegates Tuesday about suicide prevention. Her mother committed suicide in 1999 and two years later, Beasley was using that experience as her platform when she became Miss South Carolina. She continues to speak to groups about the topic, telling her mom's story to groups throughout the state. These days, she focuses on sharing that story with church groups primarily and she also tells her personal testimony. Sharing the story of her mom's suicide has been "healing — very therapeutic," Beasley said. She talked to delegates about warning signs — abrupt changes in behavior, mood swings, crying spells, recent grief or losses, changes in school performance, giving away treasured belongings and suicidal threats and hopelessness. Beasley shared a four-step process for helping someone with suicidal tendencies. Those steps include listening, insisting on honesty, sharing feelings and extending a helping hand. |
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