Meeting Recap - April 19, 2016
President Dave Cohen opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking Frank Poelman (Poelman Company) for donating the wine for the wine reception, thanking Kevin Williams (KVIE) and Aaron French (Zanker Road Resource Management) for the introductory musical interlude, audio/visual director JD Dannenfelser (JD Enterprises) for his efforts, Set Up Crew Bob Miller (First US Community Credit Union) and Chuck Brasfield (Golden Empire Council, Boy Scouts of America), and greeters Brian Witherell (Witherell‘s) and Frank Quin (Ephraim Ventures).
Rick Davis’s Thought for the Day drew on the wisdom of his grandfather who raised him in Kansas after his father was killed during the Korean War. His grandfather didn’t have more than a third grade education but was nevertheless a wise and insightful person who had Five Lessons he liked to quote. 1. Who you are is less important than what you do. 2. Never forget how to laugh at yourself. 3. Accept responsibility your choices. 4. Look always for people’s strengths and avoid dwelling on their weaknesses. Everyone is a child of god, and each does his or her best. 5. It is indeed a beautiful world, yet we lose much of it as well through death and decay, but it is important to embrace all of it.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, President Dave then introduced the head table: Chair of the Day The Honorable Kim Mueller (U.S District Court), our speaker Ting Land Sun, Stephanie Bray, President and CEO of the United Way of California Capital Region, and member Steve Lamon (Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld).
Sargent-at-Arms John McIntyre (Mercy Foundation) then introduced our Guests, Prospective Members and Visiting Club members. Rumor had it that Past District Governor Jim Deering was to be in attendance but unfortunately he wasn’t present.
President Dave announced that the Sponsor of the Day was Jim Culleton (Strong & Associates) who graciously donated his time to Stephanie Bray of the United Way. Jim was unable to attend the meeting so Stephanie introduced herself and said a few words about the United Way California Capital Region. Stephanie has been a non-profit professional for nearly 25 years. Previously she was the Executive Director of the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, and was an Assistant Dean for Health Sciences Advancement at UC Davis Health System. The United Way of California Capital Region has been in existence for over 90 years and serves 2.1 million people across five counties. Its mission is to improve people’s lives in our region by mobilizing and integrating resources. Its efforts include providing over 1,200 health meals a day in after-school programs for at-risk kids in our region, taking the lead in the local Campaign for Grade Level Reading, and solving financial stability issues within families by teaching households and foster youth how to manage finances and increase savings so they can improve their economic outlook.
It was time for President Dave to sharpen his gavel to extract some simoleons from unsuspecting members. His first target was Jim Craig whose nametag somehow made it into President Dave’s possession which he happily reunited to Jim for an eminently reasonable handling fee of $100. Next in President Dave’s crosshairs was Clayton Lee (C.K.L. Trust) who had apparently represented that PDG Jim Deering was in fact going to be joining us. Clayton said he wasn’t sure what had happened but that he was definitely out the cost of his lunch which President Dave deemed fine enough and limited his sentence to time served.
Rotary Club of Sacramento Foundation President Doug Crumley (Crumley & Associates, Ameriprise Financial) was invited to step forward to recognize a new slate of members for their generosity. Those recognized included Mike Gilligan for his 22 years as a club member and for his second Eddie Mulligan, Judy Payne (Real State Forum) for her 12 years as a club member and for her second Eddie Mulligan and second Paul Harris, Jim Leet (Boutin Jones) for his 10 years as a club member and for his third Paul Harris, Clayton Lee for his 33 years as a club member (29 of them with the RCOS) and for his third Eddie Mulligan and his third Paul Harris, and Tom Engel for his 32 years as a club member and his ninth Eddie Mulligan.
Kim Mueller then introduced our speaker Dr. Ting Sun, Executive Director of the Natomas Charter School. Dr. Sun has spent her entire adult life improving education for Californians. A co-founder of the Natomas Charter School, she is currently serving on the California State Board of Education. A particular focus of the school is the premise that grounding in the arts results in better overall educational outcomes.
Dr. Sun is a first generation immigrant who settled in Texas when she was five years old. Her parents’ motivation in doing so was twofold: to start a business, and to give their children access to the US education system which at that time was the best in the world. She was immediately put into a kindergarten class where she spoke no English and did nothing for three years. Finally, she saw the alphabet on the wall and realized letters were put together to make words. That realization opened everything up to her and she because an avid reader, so much so that in 5th grade she one an essay contest on What America Means to Me.
That experience caused her to believe she could be successful and devoted herself to supporting teachers, and to devote herself to educating students who don’t fit. She earned her teaching credential from Stanford in 1988 and has made it her mission to prepare children for the 21st century.
In the early 20th century educator John Dewey said, “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” We are still saying that in the 21st century as we negotiate the rapid changes that are marking our transition to the Information Age. Today’s children will need to be able to do jobs that don’t even exist right now. The challenge is to prepare students for jobs that don’t exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented yet, to solve problems that we don’t even known are problems.
In terms of policy, Dr. Sun believes the Common Core Standards have a role to play which have a focus on using information, not just learning it. California has 6.3 million students, 300,000 teachers, 10,300 schools, 1,022 school districts, 1.4 million English learners, and 720,000 special education students. Forty percent of California’s General Fund resources go to public school funding, yet it 34th in the US in per student funding.
The dual challenges of preparing so many students for a future that is so uncertain is a truly formidable task. Fortunately we have such dedicated and capable educators as Dr. Sun working to meet them!
With that, President Dave dismissed everyone wishing them a good week!