Apparently no one read the duty roster and lots of substitutions were made for the opening ceremonies. Never mind- all went well.

 

Guests included Joanne Romeo from the Aldershot Honour Roll, Ryan Taylor a guest of Mike Molloy's  John Merrill, Heather Lenarare, Jacqueiline Philipson, Armin Ghazi.

 

Rene reported on the Peace Medal Breakfast that he attended with Wiktor, Pia, Janet, Bryce and Gerry. The guest speaker was a female soccer player from Pakistan whose father disguised her as a boy in order to get her on a team.

 

Joanne Romeo from the Aldershot Community Honour Roll Group asked us to consider nominating and supporting this initiative that recognizes individuals contributions to both Aldershot and the City. Your Scribe was very proud to be  honoured last year. They also depend on donations from the community to continue every year. More information at www.achr.ca.

 

SAA Rod handed out coal and candy canes to those deserving of credit and misconduct. In many cases the misconduct negated the credit. There was mention of bad hair, polar opposites, speeding , anniversaries and poinsettias............all a bit confusing.

 

Happy dollars were spent by Kathy Thomas celebrating 45 years in the business. Anthony thankful for Rod bailing him out at the Breakfast program, Rene for his birthday and also seeking help on the 17th of December for the Senior centre breakfast.

 

 

Anthony welcomed our speaker  Heather Lenarare who is affiliated with the Rotary Club of Scarborough, holds a Masters degree from UBC, a Queen's grad , A RYLA participant and a Rotaractor to boot. They provide a link to the Free Reading Program on their website that encouraged children of all ages to improve their  literacy skills through an online program. Here are the 4W's of the program:

What is it?

The Rotary Club of Scarborough is a proud sponsor of the FREE Reading program for kids in K-6. The program is compatible with most Internet browsers used by desktop and tablet computers. Anyone can sign up for the program through the Rotary Club of Scarborough’s Website.

Our Goal

Our goal is to enhance the literacy skills of English language learners of all ages. The FREE reading program will help improve English reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary and much more! 60,000 + students are currently using the program.

Our Learning Content

The FREE reading program has been extensively tested for efficacy by third party researchers amongst diverse groups in both the United States and Canada. The Free Reading Program can assist in the development of new skills, reinforce literary knowledge and motivate students to succeed. Children complete activities and attempt to get perfect scores. A lot of kids think the activities are games. In fact, they are educational grade learning activities.

The Free Reading Program was developed by Essential Skills Advantage, a recognized leader in online children's education. The programs were created by teachers with literacy expertise. The program uses a range of pedagogical tools to ensure comprehension and success is acquired by each student. Students have the ability to start at any level they feel comfortable at and can work at their own pace.

Currently the program has 1479 families confirmed as users with 12 Rotary clubs participating including one outside Canada. Seems like a no- brainer to promote it on our site.

Heather was passionate about the program and spoke beautifully. If she is any indication of who will be in charge of our future we are most certainly in great hands.