Speaker: Our speaker this week was Jim Brescia, San Luis Obispo County Superintendent of Schools. As Superintendent Jim is responsible for over 34,000 students from 10 different school districts within the county plus Cuesta College. There are over 100 brick and mortar locations under his administration and the schools represent an economic contribution of nearly a half billion dollars annually. He spoke of the importance of Career Technical Education (CTE) for skills training and how the county also stresses an Arts Outreach program with 7 artists in residence teaching and mentoring art students within the school system.
School enrollment has been flat over the past few years which means revenue for schools drops or remains the same. Much funding now comes from private donations.
He spoke of the high success rate of Grizzly Academy students and his belief that "education is social justice."
In addition to being Superintendent Jim shared with the club that he too is a Rotarian, with the Paso Robles Rotary Club.
Announcements: Diane DiResto announced that she is leaving the club and moving to Flagstaff, Arizona to fulfill a dream job. It was also sadly announced that Deenie Dotsons husband Jim Dotson passed away February 17.
Recognitions: Harlan Silva was asked to spin the wheel for being a "wiseguy" and landed on number 22, which required him to pay $70. $2 for each of the 35 years he has been in Rotary. In typical "wiseguy" fashion Harlan said, "make it $100." Greg Baker, Steve Curry, Jack Hardy, Mary Ann Reiss and Don Weber were all assessed various fines during Fine Master Mark Olsen's trivia questions, which included weight of the largest Rainbow Trout caught (48 lbs); weight of the average dairy cow (1400 lbs); percent of American adults with tattoos (21%); and year the first cell phone call was mad (1973).