The Interact Club of Highland Secondary School

The Interact Club of Highland Secondary School was established in the Fall of 1995 and received its charter in December of that year. The club has been active in community and international projects from the beginning. Its first international project was the organization of the 30-Hour Famine at Highland through World Vision Canada. The first two years the club ran this event at Highland they raised in excess of $5,000. Another international project included helping out a cottage industry in Guatemala that provided dignified work to women and girls who had theretofore subsisted through their activities in the sex trade. In 2000 and 2002 the club raised money for Polio Plus Partners and the Polio Eradication Campaign and relived a citation from the District Governor of District 5020 for raising the most money of any Interact club in the district. In partnership with its sponsoring Rotary club, the Interactors decided to become involved in provided prostheses for children in India who were crippled for life by polio. The students made small silhouettes of hands out of felt, hot-glued a safety pin to one side and sold them to people for a donation. They called their campaign "Helping Hands", which name was adopted by the Rotary clubs of Strathcona Sunrise and Chennai-Kilpauk, India and is described on another page on this website.

Every year the Interactors have partnered with their sponsors in many community activities and have shared in the proceeds of the Rotarians' fundraisers by becoming involved. The Interactors have raised funds by offering their services to perform odd jobs through a "slave" auction. Several of the members of the Interact club have participated in RYLA, Adventures in Citizenship and the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Those who travelled abroad as exchange students broadened their knowledge of the people of Finland, Austria and Thailand as well as the surrounding countries they visited on their year-long adventures.

Since its formation, the Interact Club of Highland Secondary School has been joined in youth service activities with the formation of the Interact Club of GP Vanier Secondary School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Courtenay and the Interact Club of Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Comox.

Through service activities, Interactors learn the importance of:

...Developing leadership skills and personal integrity;

...Demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others; and

...Advancing international understanding and goodwill.