At 5:15 pm on May 6, Shelly Rucks, the President, called the meeting to order at the Pool and Yacht Club. Shelly thanked the volunteers helping at the meeting, Susan Rostkoski, was the greeter, Dave Dominick for his introduction of guests and Happy Dollars, Shelly Rucks for the Inspirational Minute and Four Way Test which included a video of her recent trip to Guatemala, showing the international reach of Rotary, our amazing IT tech, Matt Majors, and the scribe Linda Mulhern.
Susan introduced our two speakers from Gordon Parks High School in St Paul, James Iliff and Shandyn Benson, the principal at the school. Shandyn pointed out that since she last spoke with the club membership, her goal was to get to know the students, create community partnerships, push students to earn credits and advise students on their career and college options once they graduated from high school. The new defined vision this year is to expose students to colleges and pathways to lasting career options, while giving students opportunities to earn credits quickly. Currently within the St Paul school district, 65% of all students have not earned a degree or certificate within 7 years of graduating high school. The school district is looking at steps to articulate to students how to get a degree or at least plan pathways to a career of their choice. At Gordon Parks, many students are interested in the medical and construction fields. They recently brought in a rep from the bricklayers’ union to talk about the steps needed to become a bricklayer and go the distance needed to pursue that career. The high school also provides driver education courses, so students pursuing a career in the trades can drive themselves to a construction site around the Twin Cities once they are hired.
The school is looking to build career connections, mentorship opportunities, job shadowing, career exploration events, professional attire donations, career coaching, networking opportunities, mock interviews and resume writing to help students with their decisions on college and career choices.
Shelly gave certificates of appreciation to both James and Shandyn for their time at the meeting. She also noted that on Tuesday, 5/27 at 9:30 am there will be “Student of the Month” celebration at the school and to please consider attending to meet the students.
Heidi Fisher is still looking for Spirit of Rotary nominations which are due by 6/1.
Rotation Day will be next Tuesday, 5/13 at the History Theatre hosted by Rob Thomas. Please sign up for the event by May 9th, because lunches do need to be ordered.
Upcoming meetings include the 5:01 meeting on 5/20 to hear from Ann Hobbie of Monarch Joint Venture. The 5/27 meeting will have Joe Spencer talk about the Downtown Alliance. On 6/3, the 5:01 meeting will have “180 degrees” speaking about community development, on 6/17, the outbound Rotary exchange students to Brazil and Spain will talk about themselves prior to going abroad, as well as a former exchange student, Lani Vue as she talks about life after exchange. The Changing of the Guard will take place on 7/8.
Volunteer opportunities include Education Day at various St Paul Schools to give recognition to students that have overcome obstacles to become successful. On Wednesday, 5/14, we will be planting flowers at the Cleveland Gardens in downtown St Paul and on 5/16, you can help at the Science Museum. Please contact Andrew Vincelli, Dave Dominick or Karin Ciano if you can help.
There were a number of Happy Dollars given by Rotary members including Ruth, Susan, Dan, Todd, Doug B (with a bad pun), Matt and Doug H.
Hopefully on Wednesday, 5/14 we will have permission from the city to install the old Rotary wheel at the Cleveland Gardens and have it refashioned to be strong enough to prevent any damage.
Shelly closed the meeting at 6:06 pm.
Linda Mulhern
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