Colton Cagle, a Junior at Westwood High in Mesa, and a 2-year veteran of the Interact District Council, has been selected to lead our 93-club Interact District 5495 next year as District Governor.   He has named Ryan Gentry, the other very qualified DG candidate this year, to be his Executive Assistant Governor.  Ryan is a Junior at Hamilton High in Chandler.  Both Colton and Ryan will be serving on the AZ Interact Ambassadors Team that leaves for Kenya on June 29.
 
Rounding out Colton’s extremely strong executive leadership team for 2018-19 will be District Secretary Gabby Alessio, a Junior at Notre Dame Prep in Scottsdale, and PDG Loralli Johnson, this year’s successful DG, who is a Junior at Perry High in Gilbert.
 
Colton is a visionary leader with an engaging personality and a strong commitment to advancing Interact in Arizona and around the world.  His goals include working toward making Interact Crutches 4 Africa, which has been pioneered by Interact D5495, and has become the signature project for this district and its clubs, to become the signature project for Interact clubs and districts worldwide.  Where Rotary has focused on eradicating Polio, Colton and his team believe Interactors worldwide need to be focused on giving the gift of mobility to those in Kenya and other African countries, for whom Rotary’s 2 magic drops arrived too late, and who have been crippled for life by the devastating disease.  “Interact has the incredible power to do this.” says Colton. “Our Interact clubs in Arizona, Needles and Laughlin have been collecting and shipping to Kenya thousands of crutches, canes, wheelchairs and other devices, as well as sending teams of our top Interactors to help our partners in Kenya with the distribution of this life-changing mobility equipment.”  Colton’s personal goal is to get Interact’s C4A Project featured on the cover of The Rotarian Magazine.
 
Twenty-four top high school Interactors from around the state have submitted their applications to serve as Assistant Governors for Interact District 5495 next year.  As did the two DG candidates, they will be undergoing individual online interviews with the selection committee during the week of April 30.  Those who are selected to serve will join Colton and his leadership team, along with District Interact Chair Ken Kelley and his Interact Committee, for an intensive annual Interact District Council Retreat, to be held at Camp Pinerock in Prescott, July 20-22.  This mandatory leadership training and planning retreat serves as the “boot camp” for the Interact district leadership, as the team bonds, sets their goals, develops their plans and assigns responsibilities for the challenging year ahead.
 
Each Assistant Governor, like their Rotarian counterparts, is assigned a group of clubs to coordinate and support during the year — including holding a Cluster Club Training Day for the student and adult leaders of their clubs.  In addition to the valuable CCTDs, a unique club leadership training program developed by Interact D5495, the Interact District Council, which continues to meet online monthly throughout the year, also annually plans and leads for the clubs a Fall Leadership Conference and their biggest event of the year, the Interact District Conference, which is always held the last Saturday of February.
 
Expect great things from this international pace-setting Interact District 5495 next year, under the leadership of Colton’s dynamic team.  The district added three new clubs this year, and already has several more in the formation stages to launch next year.  Colton can be reached at (480) 797-4221 or at caglecolton@gmail.com.