April 4 at Rotary

On the first Wed. of April we Noon Rotarians gathered at the YMCA for our weekly meeting, Rev Ben D checked us in and Lt. Anthony N greeted.  Dian presented a broiled chicken breast on rice with orange sauce and green salad.  Before we had ample time to enjoy the offering Pres Steve called us to order explaining that we had much to do today and it would be wise to get started.  All recited the pledge of Allegiance and the Four Way test and Ryan W asked the lord’s blessing on the season, all present and the food and those who had prepared it.

 

 

 

High school speech coach Mike Donoho was introduced and first thanked Rotary for sponsoring the Fergus Falls Home Speech Meet; then mentioned he had two speech participants with him.  Both were team captains and seniors.  He had a dual purpose; first to enlighten us and second to give the students an opportunity to practice before a live audience.  First introduced was Tyler Hauge with a presentation in the serious prose category.  It dealt with aphasia, the loss of the ability to communicate and went on to explain in the language of someone suffering with par aphasia, the substitution of one word for another, how the condition was acquired what life was like with it.  Coach Donoho followed by explaining that 80% of communication is nonverbal and while what Tyler said made no sense at all we still understood what he was trying to communicate.  Next introduced was Isabella Nehk who competes in the poetry category.  Her presentation was titled “Loss” and was an interpretation of “The Addict a Magician” and “Pass On” by Michael Lee and “Love in a Time of Desperation” by John Batz.  It concerned itself with death, how it occurs, and the choices and struggles given patient and caregiver by modern medicine.  Both presentations were excellent, thought provoking and increased our understanding.  The coach expects both to place high in regional and state completion.

 

Hillcrest student athletes Hanna Eckhardt, daughter of Kim and Mark, of Fergus and Mckenna Erickson of Montana were introduced by Brad H.   Both are softball players.  There were two visiting Rotarians, Pastor Stan Sethre and Guy Olson both from the morning club. 

 

Bob R. went on at some length about Rotary wheels.  Seems Tag Up was engaged to produce two wheels, each 18” in diameter out of ¼ “ clear plastic, one was presented to the morning club in recognition of their 25^th anniversary.  The second Tag Up wheel is still in our possession as is an old beat up one thought to have been built by Paul Harris.  The dilemma is what to do with the two we have on hand.

 

Pres Steve announced “Josh the Otter” books have arrived and will be distributed in May and three bundles of trees were secured after some drama for Arbor Day planting.  Also a Fireside Chat is scheduled from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on April 11 at the M-state fireside lounge.  Lori L. provided directions to the lounge. The call for Brags and Fines brought Greg D to his feet with the admission he and missed a meeting and observed another birthday.  Dave J let us know the pioneer thresher men would assemble all the old tractors they could get started at Titan Machine for shows this Fri and Sat.  Stan C missed three meetings to attend to: Army Reserve duties, an area Habitat meeting and a Lowe’s Women’s Build conference.  Hal L also missed three meetings but did not say why but did thank Dean M for help with the athletes.  Lori L invited all to the Bigwood Lecture at M-State Thur night at 7:00 pm.  Last Guy O thanked our club for sponsoring the morning club.

 

Kathy A introduced Carolyn Griffin and Jen Benning from Moorhead.  They are associated with an AmeriCorps  program that has as its purpose increasing student learning in math and reading.   AmeriCorps is often referred to as a domestic Peace Corps and the program receives support from both the federal and state governments.  Carolyn and Jen work primarily in northwestern Minnesota and have responsibilities in recruiting, placing, and supporting tutors.

 

They began by establishing the need for increasing math and reading comprehension.  Eleven percent of students who fail sixth grade math will not graduate from high school and students who have not achieved reading proficiency by the fourth grade have four times the dropout rate of those who do.

 

There are currently 1500 tutors in Minnesota serving 35,000 students.  There is a need for more.  To become a tutor the applicant must be at least 18, have graduated from high school and be a citizen or permanent resident of the U S A.    While the tutors are volunteers they do receive a living allowance, an education allowance and health insurance. Many of the volunteers are recent high school graduates who tutor part time and take some college classes.  Each is assigned to one school where they build relationships and assist students with understanding and proficiency.  The approach is tailored to subject and grade level.  Pre-kindergarten reading tutors are embedded with the class, kindergarten through third grade tutors work with individual students in 20 min sessions.  Math tutors work with groups of two or three students in 90 min sessions.