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We had 21 Rotarians join our meeting via Zoom, plus Honorary Member Elaine Olson and (hopefully) outbound exchange student Erika Lahti. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and a wonderful invocation offered by John MacFarlane, President Dan inducted our newest member, Jake Hexum, into the club. Any hazing that normally goes along with this process was dispensed with in the virtual context. In the brag and fine segment, Anthony Nelson announced that $1,950 had been received from Rotarians in the Security State Bank-anonymous Rotarian match of gifts to the Salvation Army; he has since told me the $2,500 matching gift by an anonymous Rotarian has now been met. Keith Olson was happy that his establishment was able to provide carpet binding tape to make face masks and also noted his mother's birthday on April 24th. John MacFarlane reported that Buzz and Ann Lundeen had celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Wally Cole told us that there were a lot less pictures of Rotarians in the newspapers the past three years then before. Kathy Austvold talked about her co-workers in India and the difficult circumstances facing the children they support in meeting their food needs. Dean Monke was our program and he gave us a comprehensive update of what is going on in the School District as a result of the pandemic. He first gave us a timeline of how events unfolded, with students last coming to the schools on March 16th. Six weeks into the process Dean said there has been outstanding community support and also referenced the education of staff on distant learning by other staff. In Dean's opinion, the staff have never been closer together. Dean also said that this is the best group of school administrators he has ever seen, constantly reaching out to help staff and students. There are obvious drawbacks to distant learning, including the loss of extracurricular activities and tracking down students to get them to engage consistently, particularly those struggling with their school work. For purposes of on-line education, the staff was asked to put quality over quantity, or to recognize that less is more in this environment, focusing only on essential learning outcomes. There is no possible way this new approach can work without cooperation and assistance from parents in the home. Dean said that the process is more traumatic for the older students, as teenagers are not built to spend 100% of their time at home, and that counselors are totally active with students even though they cannot meet face to face. There is also the problem with technology access not being equal, either across socio-economic lines or geographically. Dean did mention some positives coming out of this, however, including every student now having access to a Chrome book, teachers being better prepared for the future, and the fact that it all came about toward the end of the school year -- it would have been much more difficult early on. Governor Walz asked schools to help with childcare and food service during the shutdown and the School District geared up quickly to assist those in need. Dean mentioned the amazing work of Lance Wells, the system's food service director (formerly at the City Bakery), who is now producing 4500 meals a day, one-half for breakfast and one-half for lunch. The bus company is delivering meals. Dean also said that the end-of-the day announcements by Shane Wilkes (?) are hilarious and if you have a chance you should listen in. Thanks Dean for bringing this report and your dedication to our students and community. |
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