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Russell Hampton
ClubRunner
 
 
Sunrise Rotary Bulletin – November 15, 2017
 
Posted by John Blair
 
Call to Order: 
President Tucker Olson called the meeting to order.   The Pledge of Allegiance as led by John Schueler, and prayer given by John McDonald.  John Schueler also led the members in the song “Margaretaville”  in light of the theme of the Winter Fundraiser.
 
Guests: 
Guest Speaker Tom Koulentes, Principal of Libertyville High School.  No other guests.
 
Announcements:
-Elliot Pinzel will have a bus at the December 6th Rotary meeting at 7:30 AM to pick up wrapped toys for the Christmas ornament gift giving program as in the past.
 
-Diana Taylor reminded everyone of the Salvation Army bell ringing on Saturday, December 2nd.  Assignments were sent via email.  If you cannot make your time slot, it is up to you to get a replacement.
 
-Diana also stated that elections for officers and directors for next year will be held the second week of  December (12/13/2017).  Positions are for 2 years with the term starting July 1st.
 
-Rich Mittleman announced the club’s participation in the Holiday Toys for Tots program.  Please bring unwrapped toys to the club’s holiday party November 29th, at Post Time Restaurant (formerly Fatman’s Bowl) at 6:00PM.  There will not be a morning meeting that day.
 
-Doug Fendon re-announced the new membership drive initiative.  He asked that the teams select a team captain by next week (due date was Nov 8th).  If the teams do not select a captain by next week’s meeting, there will be an additional $2.00 for each member of the delinquent team or an opportunity to spin the wheel.  The drive will go until the end of March.
 
-Tucker Olson also announced the club will partner with the restaurant “Main Street Social” for the Winter Fundraiser which will be at 6:30 pm on Friday February 23rd at Independence Grove in Libertyville.  The theme is Jimmy Buffet with Hawaiian shirts and outfits.  We will use Bid-Pal again with bidding open for most auction items a week to week and a half before the event.
 
-Tucker also said the club approved $7,500 toward Teri Dreher’s project in South Africa.  Seb Karasu is also looking for club assistance with a project in Turkey,  and the club plans to work with Naryan of the Barrington Rotary Breakfast Club for a clean water project in Guatemala.
 
-Tucker said the club’s financials were OK.     
 
Fun and Frolics:
None.  Teri Dreher was practically speechless and did not conduct the F&F, so she spun the wheel and earned another chance to do it again next week.  However, Doug Fendon also was remiss in something and also was directed to spin the wheel, where he also landed on the opportunity to do the Fun and Frolics next week.  So Teri lucks out, and Doug gets the prize, thereby relieving Pat Hart who is scheduled for the duty but will be out of town.
 
Brags
-Doug Fendon’s daughter Lauren earned her Masters Degree in Teaching.
 
Program: 
Tom Koulentes, Principal of Libertyville High School, discussed the changes education in general and at LHS.  He was a teacher of History and English as a Second Language for 22 years in Highland Park High School, and the principal for the last three years.  He was a member of the Highland Park Rotary and since 1998 has sponsored a program with Belfast, Ireland students to visit Highland Park High and vice versa for each year.   Students would live in Rotarian’s homes and among other things discuss conflict resolution.  Tom decided to relocate to Libertyville after reading a book by Verducci about the Cubs, where President Theo Epstein said a leader needs to move on to progress, so he became the principal of Libertyville HS this past summer.  He said LHS is one of the great schools in the state, and this stems from a great community.  However, the mission of LHS is to be one of the great schools in the country.
 
What is happening in schools today is different from what it has done in the past.  The philosophy has been to be nice, work hard, and be of service to others.  Students were given a canon of information and were expected to be able to retain and recite facts.  Today, technology has given us smart phones and pads with an encyclopedia of information.  The thrust now is how to apply the information toward critical literacy and analysis to solve problems and discover answers.  What’s important today is obsolete every 20 years, and every 6 years students must reinvent themselves.  Students must be agile and be able to read info and determine what to do with it.  They need creativity to find solutions to unstructured problems.  Cross cultural communication is important as all children are created equal in the schools which in-turn creates a better country for all of us.  All students should get some experience working with industry/business.
 
The philosophy today is “STEAM” for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. A mobile application developer makes $60,000 as an entry job.  There is lots of stress for students today and substance abuse problems are rampant and schools need to be open to finding ways to fight this problem.   Research has shown that students learn better with 9 hours of sleep per evening, so Libertyville HS is looking to trim the start day to and 8:30 or 8:45 start in lieu of the 7:30 start now. Students need info on financial literacy, how credit works, how to buy a car, and workings of a bank.  Schools need to be supportive of vocational students.  They stress out about getting into their #1 college choice and need to know other solutions to get a good education. 
 
Raffle: 
$29 in the daily won by Jon Robb.  With $907 in the progressive, Doug Fendon pulled the king of clubs, so the pot rolls once again.
 
Closing: 
Closed with the Four Way Test.                                 
 
Attendance
23 members, 0 guests, and 1 guest speaker.
 
Next Week: 
Scott Hezner is scheduled for Greeter and Prayer, and Doug Fendon for Fun and Frolics.  The program will be Medicare 101, by Christopher Dee.