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History of Interact (From Rotary website:
www.rotary.org)
Interact, Rotary International's
service club program for young adults at the secondary school level,
was officially inaugurated on 28 October 1962. The foundation of
Interact marked a new approach to youth service for Rotary. For the
first time, Rotarians were not just serving youth, but were
empowering them to serve in their communities and internationally
with their Rotary club sponsors.
Rotary service to youth dates back as
early as 1917, when a committee was appointed to study youth service.
Two years later, a department dedicated to "Boys' Work" was
established and in 1920, the Rotary Club of New York organized Boys'
Week, an annual celebration that encouraged patriotism and loyal
citizenship in its young participants. The movement caught on as
Rotary clubs sponsored Boys' Weeks across the United States and
abroad. Thirteen years later, the program was officially renamed Youth
Week in order to incorporate girls. Although such activities engaged
Rotarians in service to youth, many club members around the world
began to feel that something else could be done to actively engage
young adults in service to their communities.
One of the earliest predecessors to
Interact was known as the Ro Club, a service club for high school
students. Ro clubs' goals and projects were very similar to those of
today's Interact clubs. Yrator Clubs (Rotary spelled backward) for
outstanding high school students also were active as early as 1934.
Their efforts focused on community activities but did not incorporate
the international element that is required of clubs today. In 1939,
Pan-American Clubs for primary and secondary school students were
proposed as a way to increase international understanding and
goodwill. The clubs' purpose was to educate students throughout the
Americas on the customs and cultures of other countries in the Western
Hemisphere. However, without the official endorsement of Rotary
International, the movement eventually fizzled out.
Throughout the 1940s, Rotarians continued to serve the children and
young adults in their communities by sponsoring the efforts of other
organizations. Yet, feeling the need to actively engage youth in
community service, Rotary clubs around the world soon began forming
youth service clubs based on the ideals, principles, and organization
of their own clubs. The Rotary Club of Miami, Fla., USA, sponsored the
most influential of these movements, known as Wheel clubs. Although
Wheel clubs were not adopted as an official Rotary program, the RI
Board decided to research the feasibility of creating a youth service
organization for adoption by all Rotary clubs.
Before the end of his term in 1960,
then-RI President Harold T. Thomas appointed an Ad Hoc Committee on
Youth to study the implementation of youth service clubs. The group
studied preexisting youth clubs and consulted with Rotarians,
educators, teenagers, and sociologists. Committee Chairman Charles H.
Taylor of Christchurch, New Zealand, played the greatest role in the
creation and approval of the program through his insight, leadership,
and extensive research. The program was named Interact, a combination
of the words "international" and "action."
 On
5 November 1962, within eight days of the official adoption of the
Interact program, the first Interact club was chartered at Melbourne
High School, Fla., USA. The club's 39 members reflected the universal
criteria that all Interactors be male and in the last three years of
secondary school. Within one year there were 177 Interact clubs in 24
countries; by October 1964 that number had grown to 450 clubs in 35
countries. Within a few years, Interact began to take on its present
form. In 1967, the RI Board opened membership to female members,
preceding the admission of females to Rotary clubs by 20 years. During
the same year, Interact membership was extended to any student in the
last four years of secondary school.
From 1967 to 1978, The Rotary
Foundation of RI sponsored "Rotary International Awards for
International Understanding" for Interactors. Recognition was awarded
to Interact clubs that undertook projects that improved international
understanding and goodwill. Youth Exchange participation, visits to
foreign Interact clubs, and projects that aided developing countries
were among the most common projects recognized.
Since 1999, recognition for Interact
clubs has 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.
Interact continues to experience
phenomenal growth. The United States, India, Brazil, and Japan boast
the highest number of Interact clubs. Interactors also frequently join
with other local and international organizations in the name of
service. Working together, Interactors and Rotarians continue to show
that they are ready for "international action."
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