The
Highlighter
March 2010
Vol 83 No 9
Table of Contents
Governor's Message
Tom Novotny
I would like to share with you the following from the District 5300
Literacy Team:
It is hard to imagine what life would be like if one could not read or write. Yet, there are more than 800 million people in the world who are without these skills. Without the prospect of basic education, how can people ever hope to lift themselves out of poverty?
March is Rotary International Literacy Month. During this month, we are all encouraged to increase our participation in literacy projects. Clubs in District 5300 have a fine track record in helping to promote literacy, both at home and abroad. Most of these projects fall into two major areas: a. teaching reading and writing and b. encouraging the development of reading skills. Club members are working with local schools, listening to children reading stories and practicing reading, or donating books to schools or school libraries.
Rotarians realize that help with literacy is needed
and that a lack of literacy skills can be a problem for adults as well
as children. It is a known adage that, if you teach a woman to
read, she will teach her children and her children will teach their
grandchildren to read. (Excerpt from David Fowler’s presentation to the
Rotary International Assembly,
Are you looking for a new way to meet the literacy needs in your neighborhood or abroad? There are a variety of literacy projects, recommended by the District 5300 Literacy Team, that clubs could include as part of their efforts to improve literacy locally and worldwide. Briefly stated they are:
1. Rotary Readers: Adopt an elementary school in your neighborhood and purchase library books for your school’s library through Scholastic Publications.
2. Promise for African Literacy (PAL):
Support the purchase of textbooks for children in identified schools in
3. Literacy for All: Participate in
the Rotary International Matching Grants process and raise funds to
purchase the Literacy for All K-3 reading program for schools in
4. Teen Readers: Work with schools
in your area to purchase contemporary novels to put into the hands of
teen readers. The Bluford Series books are set in urban
As an educator for 40+ years, I know that the key to learning is the ability to read. Please join the community and world of Rotarians in making a difference. Whether your club uses the District 5300 programs or some other project, let’s push during the month of March for literacy! The ability to read and communicate is fundamental to the continued growth and development of people and societies here at home and around the world.
Chuck Freitas, Chairperson
Rotary District 5300 Literacy Team
March 4 - 7
An opportunity to be a part of the 2010 RYLA Program.
RYLA 2010 will be held next weekend - March 4 - 7, 2010
A need has arisen to add a Rotarian to the committee.
Past participation in RYLA is desirable, but not necessary.
We need someone with computer skills, preferably familiar with Pinnacle Studio, Adobe Premier Elements of Apple Final Cut.
We will even consider neighbors, friends, grandchildren or anyone who can pass a background check. Meals and accommodations provided.
Contact Steve Garrett 626-930-0811
April 10
Rotaractors are Movers and Shakers
Is your Rotary club interested in starting a local Rotaract Club? Have you wanted to learn more about Rotaract and young people in Rotary? As part of the annual District Assembly, Rotaract Representative Amanda Hurst would like to extend an invitation to the Rotarians of District 5300 to take part in the Rotaract breakout session. This is the first District training that has been offered for Rotaract and we hope that you can participate in this groundbreaking event.
As Rotarians, you will have the opportunity to network with current Rotaractors that are already moving and shaking in Rotary. You’ll receive a handout on Rotaract for Rotarians and how to establish a strong relationship with Rotaractors. If a representative from your club would like to take part in this breakout session at the District Assembly please come join us! District Assembly is Saturday April 10th.
DRR Amanda Hurst has created a fun and interactive breakout session for Rotaractors and those wanting to learn more about Rotaract! This is sure to be a great event!
April 24
The Rotary Club of West Covina in conjunction with the City of West Covina and Westfield Shopping Mall will be hosting a 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at 7:30 am. Tickets for the race will be $25 for adults and $5 for children. Proceeds from this event will go towards purchasing food for citizens in need in our community and towards our continued fight to eradicate polio. For more information, please visit our website at www.wcrotary.com.
ROTARY FOUNDATION UPDATE
March is as good a time as any to review your club’s giving history to the Rotary Foundation for the Rotary year. Did you know that the Club President, Club Secretary and Club Foundation Chair now ALL three have access to club recognition summaries (CRS)? At www.rotary.org, they simply register for member access to see the giving history of every member. Once you know where you are, you can decide where to go! The needs are great – whether you contribute to Haitian relief efforts, Polio Plus, Every Rotarian- Every Year giving to the Annual Programs/SHARE fund, or to a specific Matching Grant – all are worthy. Contributions are down this year to date, but the needs all over the world continue and increase. Please give generously.
Congratulations to the clubs who are participating in
international matching grants this year. Alhambra, Arcadia, Pomona,
San Marino, Las Vegas Northwest, Mesquite Sunrise, Mesquite, Claremont, Las
Vegas, Chino, Upland, Sierra Madre, Pasadena all have funded projects!
Ambassadorial Scholar applications are due in by April 2, 2010. The District website has all the information a club needs to seek and select qualified candidates for this prestigious award.
The PolioPlus Challenge to reach $200 million dollars world-wide to match the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s generous $355,000,000 is in its second full year. Has your club met its goal of $50 per person average giving? District Committee members are willing to visit your club to share their stories. Invite them!
The outbound Group Study Exchange team, headed by
Rotarian Adrienne Cox, is busy preparing for their departure for
Message from 2010 RRFC Institute Moderator Carolyn E. Jones
Message
for the
Today, I want to renew my challenge to all Presidents, Club International Chairs, International Project chairs, and all Rotarians interested in the international projects. Our District Assembly is approaching, and our District Conference is already waving a welcome. In both events, I plan to spread the word to all Rotarians in our District about what we do and what we will continue doing for our International Community.
Please share with us any of your club’s international efforts. The international projects, like all projects we do in our clubs, serve our communities. The international projects serve our international community, serve a big segment of our local community, and, most importantly, they open wide the door for our community to know what we do and how we connect our efforts with the world for a good cause.
International Projects are the message of Rotary for World Peace & Understanding. You can refer to our District website for details. The following is a brief summary of what we do and who is in charge. Please contact us to make your goal achievable and your participation more enjoyable for you and your team.
District 5300 Peace Conference: Dr.
Job Creation Through Youth Entrepreneurship
Education: C. Ray Carlson (
Youth Exchange Service (YES) Officer Linda G. Logan (
Health and Hunger: Dr. Kathleen M. (Kathy)
Super Build with Corazon: Alan (AJ) Jack (Claremont Sunrise), x.rayconsult@yahoo.com. 909 373 5945
Water For Life: Fred S. Fukumoto (
Open World:
Hassan Kheradmandan (
Rotary Action Group (RAG) + Rotary International
Fellowships: Karen Whisenhunt (
World Peacemaker
Award: Fred Sohl (
&
World Peace Interact Group: Dr. Kathryn Brandes (
Art For Peace (Elementary School Art Contest):
Sister Club:
Winter Contest
We Have a Winner!
Chino 86% Correct
Arcadia 29% Correct
Click here to see the beautiful babies
Happy Birthday Rotary
History
In the spring of 2008 it was
established that a very inexpensive source of books could be purchased.
The books were all classic titles.
The Bully is part of a series of books known as The Bluford Series. This is a fifteen book collection depicting common situations in the inner-city. Each book is easy to read, gives the situation, and the possible solution in an interesting manner. In addition, the West Preparatory School Library was given four complete sets of The Bluford Series. The librarian reports that the books are in constant use. The requests for these books are being made by students who now have become excited about reading.
As a result of this eight week, one book project there was a 3% increase in the reading scores of the involved students. The teachers unanimously want to continue the program.
The cost of this initial project was undertaken by The Rotary Club of Las Vegas Central, Townsend Press, and several Rotarians.
First year results – 2008 to 2009
Students in the 5th, 6th, and 7th Grades at the beginning of the school year 2008 were measured at a 15% in reading skills as a group. As the program progressed their group score in reading skills increased to over 50%.
The enthusiasm of the students is manifested in their ownership of the books and their continuous requests for more of The Bluford Series Books. Upperclassmen are also becoming involved through the school library. Personal ownership of the book is a key factor in this program.
Short-term goals
Provide to Sixth & Seventh Grade Students (totaling 700 Young People) The Bluford Series of Books.
Three different books for the sixth grade student, three different books for the seventh grade student for a total of 2100 books to be provided.
The books will be used as class textbooks over the course of a school year. The books will become the personal property of the student. In this way, we hope to encourage the beginning of a personal home library.
The Blueford Series comes with a teacher’s guide that stresses reading comprehension, quizzes, vocabulary enrichment exercises, critical thinking and writing assignments.
Long-term goals
To provide a measurable program of reading success for at-risk schools.
To involve other Rotary Clubs in
Current status of project – 2009 to 2010
The project is currently being supported and/or funded by four equal partners:
-
Rotary Club of
-
Rotary Club of Las Vegas West
-
Townsend Press
-
West Preparatory Faculty
We are currently providing books and
teacher guides for the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at
This year’s testing in reading skills
is currently underway. Results will not be available until late
April.
District Clubs Provide Teacher Mini-Grants Promoting Literacy
North Las Vegas Rotary gives Mini Grants to Teachers
by Bob Lillis
The North Las Vegas Rotary Club hosted a dinner for teachers and administrators on Wednesday, January 27th, at the Cannery Casino. The evening’s program was the presentation of grants to teachers from North Las Vegas Elementary Schools. Twenty two teachers each received a small grant averaging $ 300.00 from the North Las Vegas Rotary Club. The Cannery co-hosted the dinner for about 50 Teachers, Administrators and Rotarians and guests.
The process started with notification to all the
elementary schools in
A Special Day at
by Tom McCurry,
On
Monday morning, February 1, at an all-staff meeting at
This year, a total of 44 mini-grants will be awarded,
selected from a total of 62 applications. In a typical school year, 25
to 30 mini-grants would be awarded, but this school year produced an
exceptional number of applications. This is the tenth year that the
Rotary Club of Altadena has awarded teacher mini-grants, and it is
always one of the highlights of the year. Eighteen of the awards this
year were for the purpose of promoting Americanism; several of the
awardees were recipients both kinds of mini-grants.
The Americanism awards are funded by an endowment from
the American Legion Post 470, which closed its doors in the late 1990s
and gave the proceeds from the sale of its property to the Rotary Club
of Altadena to promote its ideals. Altadena Rotary Club also uses these
funds to set out flags on
Rotary Club of Alhambra President Dr. Lee Hamby and his wife, on an
Asian sabbatical in 2008, visited the
Dr. and Mrs. Hamby met with several of the girls - one who was just
13 years old - and, when asking the girls what they liked about the
The New Life Center Director, later, spoke to club members at a regular luncheon meeting, and at the suggestion of Dr. Hamby, the club enthusiastically endorsed an international project in support of the center.
The project supports this life-changing center in their essential work, providing funds to pay for school term fees, uniforms, books, and equipment for 50-60 girls, rescuing them from sex-trade exploitation, teaching them a trade, and providing them with a safer future.
The Rotary Club of Pomona generously came on board, and with the support of a District 5300 grant, this international project now has a total of $22,727 to help create new lives for girls who previously had no hope for the future.
Dr. Hamby plans a return visit to Chiang Mai next year, to check on the progress of the project and to meet with the young women the project is helping.
On
Tuesday night, January 5th, cars gathered in a dark parking lot outside
a vast warehouse on
About half the children in the
With the help of local service organizations such as the Las Vegas
Northwest Rotary Club, the BackPack for Kids Program, part of the Three
Square Childhood Nutrition Initiative, works to meet that need.
Each week, over 5,000 backpacks are prepared by volunteers at Three
Square’s giant warehouse on North Pecos, each backpack containing single
serving, child friendly, ready-to-eat food, things like fruit cups,
shelf-stable chocolate milk, franks, chili, beef stew, cheese and
crackers and granola bars. Each Friday, backpacks go out to 185
schools to be given to kids who might otherwise go without food during
weekends.
Again on February 2nd, Rotarians from the Las Vegas Northwest club
gathered at the vast Three Square Food Bank warehouse on
Love Reaches David & Margaret’s Young Women
The Rotary Club of La Verne adopted David & Margaret’s Home in
The idea for the care packages came from Lyn Childress, chair of La Verne Rotary Community Services. The club was trying to come up with a thoughtful service project for Valentine’s Day and Lyn did not miss a beat. She said “I thought it would be a nice thing to do for the girls and I know they will be so appreciative even if we do something small.”
Lyn purchased supplies for the care package which included a shower caddy, lip balm, lotion, body wash, face scrub, a loofah, and candy. Men, women, spouses and even little Emma Dilley, daughter of Rotarian Chris Dilley, helped put together the care packages in assembly line fashion. The care packages will be delivered to David & Margaret’s before Valentine’s Day.
Special Polio Pig Donations
February
23, 2010 was the 105th birthday of the Rotary Club and a special day to
contribute to polio eradication and relief. The South Pasadena Rotary
Club took an innovative approach to fundraising by placing a dollar bill
by each place setting the week before, and explaining that on the 23rd,
everyone would be asked to contribute. Each could contribute the dollar
in front of them, or give a matching dollar or even greater contribution
if so moved.
On the day of the 23rd, a fresh dollar was again placed in front of each person, and the Polio Pig made its rounds. The week before, the matching dollar concept about doubled the usual amount given. On the 23rd, even more was raised for polio eradication and relief: over $300 in addition to any pledges and earlier Polio Pig donations. For a club of 37 people, of whom about 30 came to the meeting, the outcome was welcome. One “starter dollar” contributed by a club member grew tenfold.
Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
Everybody in Nigeria looks like an entrepreneur; selling bananas by kerosene lamp at 10 pm in the black of night with no street lights anywhere, signs stuck to any vertical surface (professional and hand painted) inviting customers to come and buy, car washes set up by the side of the road with a few pails and sponges, tire repairs and hot snack sales in the median strips of barely divided highways, soft bags of drinking water (don’t drop one), girls posing for your camera as if they just stepped off the cover of Glamour Girl because they aspire.
No social safety net to be found anywhere, just extremely hard working, motivated, enthusiastic and unafraid people of every age rolling up their sleeves to “make it happen.” Need to walk 20 miles? No problem. Lift that bale, tote that barge? No problem. Smiling all the while. No shoes … a small inconvenience. No self pity, because there is no point. Content with the hand you have been dealt and grateful for any break, any chance to improve. With the providence of God, they live and strive and succeed.
Click here for the complete article...
District Governor Inducts 13 New Rotarians
District
Governor Tom Novotny traveled to Victorville in February to induct 13
new members to the Rotary Club of the
There to welcome them to the ranks were Rotary members from clubs
through the
In less than 15 minutes, with a few heartfelt words from Novotny, the club more than doubled in size. Originally charted in 2006 and sponsored by the Rotary Club of Apple Valley, the club suffered a blow when the economy began to decline.
Under the prowess and leadership of Club President Darryl Evey, the club held on and re-invented itself with a new push toward younger members, while still maintaining many of its core Rotarians. In fact, out of those inducted, the average age is 31.
A majority of the new members have already committed to serving on the board of directors and even attended the board of directors training three days later in Etiwanda. The average age of the board is 29.
By the end of the year the club will easily boast more than 25 members and with the fresh ideas of new Rotarians, the community services projects already being discussed will be a great benefit to the region. In addition, they have already set up a Rotary Cruise planned for July 9 – 12 and are encouraging all Rotarians, friends and family to join.
Immediately following the induction, the new members were each
personally congratulated by Novotny and received a standing ovation from
those in attendance, which included seven prospective members of the
young High Desert Club. As the newly pinned participants of the Rotary
Club of the
The
District 5300 Group Study Exchange Team is heading to Brazil
District 4390 April 17, 2010. And yes, we are excited!
Four team members and 3 alternates were chosen from a group of 12 applicants last summer. I’ve been interviewing and hiring employees for 30 years; I have never seen an applicant pool of this quality! Each was an accomplished and charismatic young professional. What a difficult selection that was.
Our team has morphed since that time. Team Leader Mike Driebe had to withdraw in December as a result of professional demands. I had been selected as his alternate and stepped in as Team Leader on December 5th. On January 17, one of our team members had to withdraw, also for professional reasons, resulting in this final team:
Clarissa Cassara, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Monrovia. Clarissa is an account manager for a private insurance company.
Joe Lawrence, Rotary Club of
Jacqulyn Maples, Rotary Club of Apple Valley, is an Organizational
Development Specialist at St Mary’s
Jer Roberson-Strange, Rotary Club of Las Vegas Southwest, is the
Assistant Director of a social service agency in
I am Adrienne Cox, past president of the Rotary Club of Las Vegas Southwest. I am self employed, having retired from the administration of Clark County’s child welfare and juvenile justice services.
Your GSE Team’s pictures are not yet on our website, as we’re just now ordering our uniforms. We’ll be fully dressed and picture ready at our next team retreat, at which time we’ll post our pictures and biographies on the District web site.
Thank you to so many of our District’s clubs that have generously contributed additional money to help support the team members’ unfunded expenses. My goal is $3,000 to help pay for visa’s, uniforms, host and vocational gifts, luggage add ons, and may other required expenses. It’s not too late for clubs to contribute! To do so, send a check to our District Administrator, Cathy Raacke.
Each of us on the GSE Team is so thankful for this life-changing
opportunity. We will make presentations at both the District 4390
Conference in Brazil, and at our District 5300 Conference, June 10-13,
at the Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, Nevada. You’ll be amazed
at the accomplishments of these wonderful young professionals!
Upon our return, they will make presentations, as invited by individual
clubs, on our adventures in
Schurr Student Wins
Congratulations
to
The theme of this year’s contest is The Future of Rotary is in Your
Hands and the topic must be specifically subjected to the Rotary
Four-Way Test: Is it the Truth? Is it Fair to all Concerned? Will
it Build Goodwill and Better Friendships? Will it be Beneficial to all
Concerned?
From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned
with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives.
The
Each student’s speech must be between six and eight minutes in length
and is judged on personal qualities, organization, presentation and
effectiveness.
“The students’ speeches are always inspiring as they relate what the
Along with Quevedo, Angel Collins from
“All the students’ presentations were excellent and each year the
judges have the difficult decision of selecting just one,” said Castro.
Quevedo will now go on to represent the club at the next level of
competition. Following group and regional contests, four winners
will compete in the final competition which will be held at the Rotary
District 5300 Conference in June.
Quevedo, also the club’s winner last year, plans to go on to college
after graduation and study political science.
“We wish Jennifer the best as she goes on to represent our club at
the next level of competition,” added Castro.
Rotary’s Newest Paul Harris Fellows
It
was with great pride the Rotary Club of Las Vegas Fremont presented two
extraordinary individuals in our community with
Paul Harris Fellowships - Headmaster Michael Imperi of The
Alexander Dawson School at
Our Club has long known about the incredible drive and passion of Dr. Mathis through our special Burrito lunch days with her students, book donations to their library, mini-grants for the teachers and, last but not least, the Thanksgiving lunch we have been sponsoring for 7 years. She speaks with great pride about being a part of the Booker Experience and she has made a measurable difference in the academic lives of the children by empowering the teachers, students and families to be a part of the total experience and bringing in sponsors, such as our Club, to be a part of the successes there. Her school is a great example of “It Takes a Village” - a theme that is prevalent throughout the campus.
Headmaster Imperi has been a part of the
These two educators have partnered up to make a difference with each other’s campuses. They each reach out to the community involved in different events and causes and bring these skills to their students. “Teach by Example” could easily be their motto.
We brought them to our Club on the premise of speaking about their
experiences in education and their new found friendship and partnership.
We surprised them both with a Paul Harris Fellow. As articulate as
Principal Beverly usually is, we all saw her completely overwhelmed with
the presentation, probably the only moment we have ever seen her at a
loss for words! Headmaster Imperi was equally moved and just kept
shaking his head in disbelief. He has known of Rotary’s worldwide
pledge to eradicate Polio for years through his many trips to
For the first time in my 16 years in Rotary, I GOT IT about being a Paul Harris Fellow and wanted to share a piece of District Governor Tom Novotny’s speech:
You are about to become a Paul Harris Fellow, but what does that really mean? It means:
- You will build houses in which you will never live
- You will feed hungry people of every race, creed and political philosophy
- You will make crawlers into walkers
- You will educate children you will never know
- You will vaccinate children you will never meet
- You will dig wells from which you will never drink
- You will plant trees under which you will never sit
- You will restore eyesight to those who will never see you
- You will not only be IN the Rotary family, but you will have the Rotary family IN you.”
Congratulations Beverly & Michael. Well done Fremont Rotary!