INTERACT

Interact is a service club for young people of age between 14-18. Sponsored by local Rotary clubs. Interact clubs give young people an opportunity to participate in fun,meaningful service projects while developing leadership skills and meeting new friends.
Interact Clubs Goals Are :
Develop leadership skills and personal integrity.
Demonstrate helpfulness and respect for others.
Understand the value of individual responsibility and hard work.
Advance International understanding and goodwill.
Interact is part of the Rotary family.Interactors are partners in service. Rotarians should mentor promising youth in their communities, as Interactors may become future Rotarians.Each Interact club must have a Rotarian adviser who is a member of the sponsoring club.This resource person must attend Interect club and board meetings and should guide the club.
Interact stands for International action.
One of the earliest predecessors to Interact was known as RO Club, a service club for high school students. YRATOR Clubs(Rotary Spelled backward) for outstanding high school students also were active as early as 1934.
The first club was chartered in 1962 at Melbourne High School, Florida, USA. Since then Interact continues to experience phenomenal growth.The United States,India,Brazil and Japan boast the highest number of Interact clubs.Today there are 10,160 clubs in 118 countries with membership of 233,680 youth worldwide.
Sponsoring Rotary clubs provide support and guidance, but Interact clubs are self-governing and self-supporting. Club membership varies and can be single-gender or mixed-gender, large or small. Members are drawn from one school's student body or from several schools in the community.
Program Guidance:- Interact clubs are encouraged to:
Be school - based or community - based.
Have a Rotarian adviser and a faculty adviser for school - based clubs.
Meet at least twice a month. Interactors must attend 60% of regularly scheduled meetings.
Require no financial support from the sponsoring Rotary club.
Interactors carry out activities to benefit schools and communities & expand international understanding.
To Organize a Club:
Form an interact subcommittee.
Identify the membership base.
Hold informational and organizational meetings.
Complete the Interact Club Organization List.
Submit the list to Rotary International
Rotary Club's Support & guidance is must for the success of Interact. Here are few tips:
Invite Interactors to Rotary Club meetings
Create an annual Rotary-Interact service projects.
Assist in production of a Interact club bulletin.
Help develop membership recruiting strategies.
Establish a recognition program.
Publicize activities to the community and the Rotary world.
Interact Club Structure: The Interact board of directors is the club's governing body. It consists of the following elected officers- President,Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer & other officers as needed.
The Interact club president appoints four standing committees to effectively help carry out the club's activities.
Club committee
Finance committee
Service committee
International understanding committee.
District Structure: District Interact chairs are appointed to assist Rotary clubs as they administer, promote, publicize and oversee the activities of Interact clubs. The Rotary district Interact committee is expected to give all guidance and are encouraged to arrange one day training seminars for Interact leaders.
Since 1999, recognition for Interact clubs have continued in the form of World Interact Week, which is celebrated every year during the week of 5 November to commemorate the founding of the first Interact Club. During World Interact Week, Interactors and Rotarians are encouraged to work together on a variety of service projects. Upon completion of these projects, clubs are recognized with a special pin and letter from the RI President.