We are accepting applications from Valley High School Seniors for our Leadership and Service Above Self scholarships. Each year we award scholarships to students for high academic achievement, participation in extra-curricular activities, commitment to community service, and a plan to attend college, a university or continuing education program. If you know a youth who you feel would benefit, please share the link to our applications. For more information, contact the Scholarship Chair at mfjak@mtaonline.net.
We raise money from our Rotary Uncorked event each year for scholarships and for local organizations such as My House. To get involved, our next Rotary Uncorked event will be held in October 2022.
We have designated $20,000 in scholarships to students who excel in Leadership and Service.
The Scholarship Committee will be meeting shortly after the April 15th to review the applications of local high school graduates. Please notify Sondra Kaplan, mfjak@mtaonline.net if you are in need of a scholarship application, or see your counselor at your high school or technical school.
The Rotary Uncorked event is our fundraiser for the scholarships. This event is held every year in October at the Menard Center in Wasilla.
As Rotarians, we should all get involved in these worthwhile activities for our club.
An International Convention will be a highlight of your years in Rotary! You’ll learn about new ideas, hear different perspectives, and gain new skills through engaging speakers, breakout sessions, and exhibits in the House of Friendship.
Mark your calendar for the 2020 Rotary International Convention to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, June 6 -10, 2020. To register visit: riconvention.org.
Our club is growing! We have welcomed several new members to our club in the past few months. We have also had fellow club members receive additional Paul Harris Pins! Good job! Oh - and congratulations to Linda Brandon on her engagement. That's a diamond she's showing off!
Thank you to all who helped with the annual Youth Christmas Activities. They were a huge success! From the movie "Sing" to the "Get Your Skate On" ice skating and the swimming party, youth in the community were able to enjoy fun safe activities during the hoiday break. These activies could not happen without the support of our club members who donate their time to helping greet the community and sharing their Rotary passion.
The Rotary Foundation 100 years of Doing Good in the World
Help us celebrate The Rotary Foundation's 100th Anniversary of Doing Good in the World!
Join us for the MatSu Rotary Winter Festival with ice skating, snow activities, food and a sky lantern festival. It is a great opportunity to share with the community the good Rotary has been doing for 100 years.
Saturday, February 18
4-7PM at Newcomb Park
We need your help! There are many ways you can help from donating to the event, volunteering at the event and being on the committee. Let Lisa know what you would like to do. We have a lot of planning to do but we know our club rocks at everything we do! So don't hesitate another minute!
The Rotary Foundation 100 years of Doing Good in the World
It's time for the annual Rotary Uncorked. Join us as we Kick up our Heels for doing good!
October 8th from 6-9 PM at the Menard Center
Enjoy the great Tapas prepared by local culinary masters paired with great wine and local microbrews and music by the local band Against the Grain. Tickets to the event are $65 and are available online, at Towne Square Art Gallery, Travel Services or by emailing joni@travelservicesinc.com. There will be dancing, a Sheriif and his possee as well as live and silent auction.
Help us to raise money for MyHouse and Sertoma's Hearing Booth.
We are looking for High School Seniors who have a strong commitment to Community Service and strong Leadership skills.
This year, nine students will be awarded scholarships:
One $3,000 Service Above Self Scholarship
One $2,000 Menard Outstanding Leadership Scholarship
Four $1,000 Outstanding Service Scholarships
Three $1,000 Outstanding Leadership Scholarships.
There are two applications available. One for Service and one for Leadership. Please share with everyone you know who either is or has a High School Senior. They can attend a High School, Charter School, private school, Career Tech, or be a home schooler. They must be attending either a college, university, trade school, or other continuing education institution.
We want to make sure we give to as many students as we can. The MatSu Rotary 5Khas been the fundraiser for these scholarships. Because of the great sponsors and the participants, along with many tireless volunteer hours by Rotarians, we are able to give so many scholarships.
Contact Roxie Mayberry at 907-414-3634 or Sondra Kaplan at 907-227-3486 for more information.
Three members of our club were recently awarded Paul Harris Pins for their contributions to the Paul Harris Foundation.
Stan Harris received his Paul Harris 7 pin
Linda Brandon received her Paul Harris 5, 6 and 7 pin
Sondra Kaplan received her Paul Harris 6 pin
Congratulations to all of you for your continued dedication and support in Rotary. You are both members in which we can all say we want to emulate and we look up to you as leaders in Rotary and the community.
Youth Exchange Winter Orientation is just around the corner... Maddie, our new Outbound Exchange Student will receive her Country Assignment here... all are encouraged to mark your calendars.
KATIE IS IN BOLIVIA AND DOING GREAT! WHERE WILL MADDIE GO? COME FIND OUT!
On January 14th thru 17th, Youth Exchange Students from around the state will gather in Anchorage at the Millennium Alaska Hotel for training and preparation of their coming year abroad. The Banquet will be filled with almost unfathomable excitement as each Outbound Student (22 in all) await the announcement of the country they would go to in 2016-17. As each country is announced, the OB (Outbound Student) will be joined on stage by their country's Inbound (IB), Rebound (RB), Rotec (RT) and flag! A Rotec is a Rebound who has been back for more than a year.
After the excitement, students will relax with a dance to celebrate! Pictures all around...this is too much fun to miss.
A reminder that if you Register for District Conference by December 31 the discounted registration fee applies AND you are automatically entered to win a flight-seeing trip for 2 provided by K-2 Aviation & Rust's Flying Service.
Don't delay- you may be the lucky winner! To register, please visit: rotarydistrict5010.org
We have secured a special conference rate at Talkeetna Lodge, our conference location. Just $135 per night, first come first serve on the room type. This should incentivize everyone to book early to get Mountain Side and Main Lodge rooms! Once these rooms are filled, reservations will flow to the exterior lodge rooms. Please request the room type preferred when makingreservations.
You may begin to reserve rooms starting today, October 1st. Please call 866-845-6338 toll free, or 907- 777-2806 local. You may also email: groupsales@ciri.com. Either by phone or email, simply say that you are with the Rotary Conference, and the discounted rate applies.
An exciting, fun and informative conference is being planned! District conference provides an ideal opportunity for new members & friends to learn more about Rotary International, our District 5010, leadership and service opportunities- plus creating new friendships. Watch your email for other details to follow.
Checklist
Early Bird registration by December 30. rotarydistrict5010.org
Look forward to winning a flight-seeing trip for two!
Call or email Talkeetna Lodge to secure a great room!
Invite new members of your club, family or friends to conference
We look forward to seeing you in Talkeetna May 12-15, 2016.
Rotary Uncorked A night at the Derby was a big success! A night of fabulous food, wine, auction items, Derby Race, Artist rendered horse sculptures, and people culminated in the event raising over $65,500! It was the largest event so far we have put on to date. With over 400 tickets sold, it was a packed room. Six beautiful artist rendered horse sculptures were auctioned off. The winners of these then became the "owners" of the horses that then participated in the Race for the Roses Derby Race. Six jockeys then raced around a course and mock bet raffles were sold. The race raced $5,800 in additional revenue.
For the fourth year, part of the proceeds went to MyHouse. A check was presented on October 28 for $20,000. Another check was presented to Mat Su Food Bank Food4Kids program for $6,000, $3,000 of which was from a matching grant from Rotary District 5010. Money will also go towards Scholarships for High School Seniors, a project in Belize and other projects the club votes on.
Check out the new website for Valley Rotary Clubs. All the information on the upcoming Foundation Dinner will be available as well as other information on upcoming Valley events. Keep informed!
When did you last visit our Club Website? Well, now is the time to check it out as it has a new look! We have made it easier to find info on Club Fundraisers and Events, keep up to date on the weekly Speakers, and see the latest stories. Soon there will be a link for Youth Exchange and our Youth Scholarships. Share the link with your co-workers and friends. We want you to visit often to keep informed. We want this website to be a tool you can use as a Rotarian. We always want your input. If you have something you would like to add, please send it to Roxie at roxie@alaskastatefair.org.
If you haven't liked our Club Facebook page, you should. In the last month we have gone from 256 "likes" on March 1st to 470 "likes" on March 24th!!! That's an increase of 215! We almost doubled our "likes." For a club our size that is astounding! It means people want to know what our club is doing: who are speakers are each week, updates on the MatSu Rotary 5K and Rotary Uncorked, and information on community events which we support. Thanks to all those who have shared our page and posts with their friends. Through Facebook we are able to promote Rotary and what Rotary is doing in our community. Do you think we can get it to 500? I think we can. Let's shoot for the stars.
We raised $25,000
for the
MYHouse Gathering Center.
Thank you for your donations & attendance.
A check for $25,000 was presented to Michelle Overstreet, Founder & Acting Director and Michael Carson, Board Vice President, of the Matsu Youth Housing Project (MYHouse) at the joint Rotary Meeting on November 20th. President Les Helfrich of the Palmer Club, and President Paul Beer of the Wasilla Noon Club make the presentation. Members who attended the event stated they were proud to help this worthwhile community project.
A huge thank you to Valley Cinema in Wasilla, and our friend and fellow Rotarian (Ashland Oregon Club), John Sweigart who sponsored the venue and the food.
Also a huge thank you to our Club Members, friends and families who donated their time, talents, and treasures. Together we raised over $24,000 Foundation Dollars to go toward District Grants for the Valley community projects!
See you next year for more fun!
MatSu Rotaries Raise over $24K with Let's Go to the Movies Fundraiser!
Annual Rotary Dues for Wasilla Noon Rotary Club Members
Wasilla Noon Rotary sends in dues for all its members on January 1st and July 1st, and then collects the dues from its members. So, it is important that, since your dues have been sent in for you, that you pay those dues to the club around those same dates. Dues are only $300 this year, which can be paid all at once in July, or half July 1st and the rest January 1st. If you need other arrangements, Joni will be glad to assist you or explain them to you. Please make every attempt to pay your dues now.
Thank you Joni for being one of the driver volunteers for
the Service Projects on Saturday, April 26th
Huge thank you to Dr. Stacey Lowe for providing our Club's
Saturday afternoon snack!
Thank you John Lee and Linda Brandon for attending the
Dinner with Rotarians on Friday, April 25th.
Thank you Wasilla Rotary Club (Noon) members for sending
Morgan Chapman and Anne Sullivan, both from Colony High School.
They will be reporting to the club on their Leadership Adventure!
As you all know Sue was an instrumental, influential, and positive Rotarian and was happily demonstrating her ongoing commitment to service above self as our District Governor. With her unexpected loss last week we are all in a state of shock and are struggling to reason with this stark reality. Please keep Sues family and in particular her husband Harold in your thoughts and prayers and that each of you may find some comfort in this very difficult time.
Celebration of Life
April 13 at 1:30 pm
Captain Cook Hotel
If someone wishes to send a note or card to Harold, his address is:
2725 S Nellis, Unit 2069; Las Vegas, NV 89121
To Janet St. George, President Daryl Lowe, and Teresa Bloom for receiving their Paul Harris pins. The funds go to the Rotary 6 Areas of Focus, and qualifies our Club for future grants.
We look forward to 2014 in exceeding our Club Goals.
We currently have $8,000.00 designated this year from the Rotary Uncorked Event!
We hope to have other local clubs join us in providing much more competitve scholarships within the Mat-Su. The calls have gone out to the other club presidents for their input and participation.
As it stands now, we have:
1 - $5,000 Service Scholarship
1 - $2,000 Leadership Scholarship (In honor of Curtis Menard, Jr.)
1 - $2,000 Academic Scholarship
Together we can make a bigger Rotary impact with our students... will you help?
Contact Sondra Kaplan at 227-3486 to get involved.
Rotary Scholarship Committee ... including other Rotary Valley Clubs
The Board and current attending members felt it was time to invite your spouses, family and perspective Rotary members to fellowship and eat together. Lets get to know one another.
When: February 13th - Thursday evening
Where: Hacienda Restaurant
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Come enjoy being with like-minded, civic family and friends.
Mexican food and friends ... it doesn't get better than that!
Ben just spent a week with Teresa Blume & Jay Owen heading out to Hatcher Pass. Thanks to Janet & Chas St George for taking Ben out to their Willow cabin this weekend.
The club needs your help so Ben can continue to enjoy our great state!
How can you help?:
Take Ben out to see Alaska or to a movie or hockey game.
Connect with Ben by texting 907-414-9330.
ROTARY HOST PARENTS:
We are looking for host parents for this year. See Ryan Berry for details.
Saturday, Oct 12th, Wasilla & Palmer Rotarians hosted valley friends for the 5th annual wine festival and fundraiser. This year's ROTARY UNCORKED, Reds, Whites, & Brews Festival, featured the now famous raffle for 100 Bottles of Wine and 100 Bottles of Beer. With a SOLD OUT event, over 250 attendees dined on delicious tapas from by best of the valley chefs. Each tapa was carefully paired with a complimentary wine by the talented Kelci Hatcher from the valley's favorite wine bar, The Grape Tap. Soon, Joni Gerharz will update us all on the net funds raised from this year's event.
Pictured: Jay Owen with Wasilla Rotary President Daryl Lowe and The Grape Tap's Kelci Hatcher
6:00 pm Event including Cinema-Style Dinner & Auction
9:15pm Private Movie Premier for Rotary
Tickets $50 include a $25 tax deductible donation to Rotary Foundation in your name.
Please bring in or email to Teresa your silent auction donation forms this week.
Our club is responsible to organizing & putting on the silent auction. We're collecting items from all 5 valley clubs. We need to donate 8 silent auction items from our club and 3 live auction items.
TIME, TALENT, & TREASURE AUCTION
Donate any item including your professional skills or hobby.
SATURDAY, OCT 19: Auction Donation Forms due
FRIDAY, OCT 25: All Auction Items due, Delivery to Teresa Blume or Linda Brandon.
Contact Teresa for auction ideas, questions or donation forms.
A great big thank you to the Rotary Clubs of Palmer, Wasilla, Sunrise, and Susitna for
taking part in the MYHouse Appliance Grant. The open house schedule for Aug 8 is being rescheduled. For more information go to http://myhousematsu.org .
The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for business people and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas.
In a typical four-week tour, applicants participate in five full days of vocational visits, 15 to 20 club presentations, 10 to 15 formal visits and social events, two to three days at the district conference, three to four hours per day of cultural and site tours, and three to four hours per day of free time with host families.
For each team member, the Foundation provides the most economical round-trip airline ticket between the home and host countries. Rotarians in the host area provide for meals, lodging, and group travel within their district.
I have included pictures of the Placencia Health Clinic, along with a picture of Dr. Alex and Placencia Rotary president, Jim Weller. The other two pictures are of the Placencia Police/Fire Station, with the inside picture of Inspector Mark Flowers and Jim again. The two defibrillators were donations from another Rotary club, but they did not include the pads or spare batteries, which is what our club provided. Luckily they have not had a need as of now, but within the past year or so they could have possibly saved a couple lives if they had them at that time.
The Placencia Rotary, Dr. Alex, the police dept, and the village council were all very appreciative of our donation.
Even the fire truck is a relatively new item. It was donated from the states a couple years ago. Prior to that, most fires were fought by bucket brigade. Some fires still are as they do not have fire hydrants, or sufficient hose to reach all areas.
The Co-Chairs of the Children's Christmas Events, Terry Namtvedt and Joni Gerharz, want to extend a warm thank you to all the volunteers who participated. We had 86 children show up at the swimming pool, around 35 people show up for a great movie, and we packed the house and ran out of skates at the skating event! Overall we feel the club's money was well spent in supporting the school age children during the holiday break.
A great big thank you to all who participated in this event to make it as wonderful as it turned out. Together we can make a difference!
MY HOUSE Holiday Survival Kits 2012 REVIEW
Rotary participated in Saturday School on Dec 15th at Burchell High School in Wasilla. The school has a homeless youth population of up and sometimes above 70% according to My House. The Saturday School is created to offer a weekend place with activities that benefit these teens. The December Saturday School offers additional help for youth that might be homeless over the holidays.
Visioning helps keep the club on a path to reach goals,
be a more productive club and get better results.
RSVP President Sondra at mfjak@mtaonline.net
Dec. 5th - 5:00 to 9:00 pm.
3rd Floor of Mat-Su Regional Medical Center
The Denali Room - Dinner provided!
Visioning Questionnaire (emailed last week) - return to President Sondra
All Rotary Clubs across the Mat-Su are stepping up to help the local un-housed youth through the MYHouse Project. See the flyer for more details and upcoming events.
Wine and Beer as well as non-alcoholic beverages
will be tasted and Wasilla Sunrise Rotarian's provide
a fabulous display of scrumptious appetizers too!
Please see any Sunrise Rotarian for tickets to this event
or contact Dan Kennedy at 907-982-6430.
Hope to see you there!
www.wasillasunriserotary.com
Start the holiday season out right by updating your jewelry collection or purchasing a gift for Christmas. The amazing work of Solace International has will be displayed for pleasure to support Economic Development in their country.
On Saturday, August 18th Rotarians from around the Valley showed up to have fun, march in a parade and run between the raindrops for the Annual Founder's Day parade and events. Sunrise Rotarians were there selling ticket for fuel, Susitna Club sold ticket to their annual Duck Race, and Bert Hall, Bill Keller and Sondra Kaplan were there with their spouses (selling tickets to the Ken Peltier event) and to take in the festivities. The Military Band played everybody's favorites. It was a great turn out and everyone had fun! Good Job Rotarians -- way to get out there.
Thanks Chas for inviting your mom to Rotary lunch recently! It's always delightful when Rotarians bring their families along to enjoy food & fellowship with our club.
The handcrafted "fair trade" jewelry sale for Solace International exceeded all expectations, raising $6,650 for international aid plus an additional $500 for Wasilla Rotary's local community projects!
Janet St. George at Towne Square Art Gallery sponsored the venue, providing elegant displays of Solace's gemstone jewelry and expert sales help to shoppers. Thanks to Holly Gittlein for helping to get the word out in the valley community. With refreshments cosponsored by Linda Brandon, State Farm Insurance and printing sponsored by Teresa Blume, club expenses were zero. Thanks to all the Rotarians that shopped and supported this event! We look forward to seeing you & your loved ones wearing those jewels very soon!
Last Blast of Summer! The KEN PELTIER Band rocked & packed the house.Ken played for more than four hours while Rotarians and friends filled the dance floor. ALLticket proceeds will support Wasilla Rotary's local community service projects.
Pictured: Event Coordinators, Holly Gittlein, Daryl Lowe and Teresa Blume in front of Ken Peltier and band.
My iphone produces a fuzzy picture of the event flyer but these businesses are not fuzzy, they're awesome!!!! Thanks to sponsors, all ticket proceeds from Ken Peltier event "Last Blast of Summer" go directly to Wasilla Rotary's local community projects. --Teresa, your website editor-in-training
ALYESKA Phsical Therapy Tru Built CONSTRUCTION ALASKA PREMIER DENTAL GROUP
K&K Enterprises STATE FARM Insurance, Linda Brandon, Agent
Additional thanks to:
Dr. Jeff Weiss, Valley Dermatology Center, for also jumping in to sponsor this event!
President Elect Sondra Kaplan has guest speakers sign books that our club will donate to Mat Su literacy projects. Guest speakers pictured with Sondra Kaplan include Michelle Overstreet, Dave Rose, and Michael Carson. The three speakers presented an overview of the youth homeless community in the valley during our August 3rd meeting.
For every dollar you give to the Annual Programs Fund, 50% of these funds come back to the District for grant dollars for projects within our community. Won't you help us reach our goal?!?
Stan also signed a book for donation to the Wasilla Library. Pictured Stan Mitchell, Susitna President-Elect & Linda Brandon, President of Wasilla Noon Rotary.
Logan Ketterling gave a great presentation last week! We learned about Logan's experiences in Istanbul and his travels to Rome. Wasilla Rotarians marveled at Logan's excellent slideshow. The club was honored to have Logan's parents & grandparents attend his presentation. Sounds like a great school year abroad!.
Thanks to Logan Ketterling, Youth Exchange Rebound from Turkey
Outbound Exchange Student, Sarah Boelter, arrived in Lüneburg, Germany. Sarah reports that she loves her host family & she is set to start school next week. Read Sarah's post "Culture Shock is Alive & Well" at Sarah's Blog, which comes complete with Deutsch music.
Thank you to speakers Dave Rose, Michelle Overstreet, and Michael Carson! They presented an excellent overview of the state of homeless youth in the valley. Dave and Michelle promise to keep our club informed.
If you would like to learn more or participate in this month's Homeless Coalition meeting August 18th, please contact Dave Rose.
Thank you to speakers for update on HOMELESS YOUTH in the valley
Thanks to Dr Stacey Lowe & our club's exchange students for a great program in July. Our new exchange student from Germany arrived this month. Come to lunch to learn more. Get involved in YOUTH EXCHANGE! Contact Stacey to find out how! Dr Stacey Lowe
Thanks to Sandi and Andy for the fun and fellowship this past Saturday. To view photo's of inbounds, outbounds, rebounds and a host brother, click here. If you have additional photo's please forward them to stan.hooley@gmail.com.
Also, anyone who can pick up Jonas from Colony High school each Wednesday to bring him to our weekly meeting please contact Andy Reimer by phone at 373-1200 (o), 354-2401 (c) or by email at reimer@mtaonline.net.
Holly was evaluated by the Orthopod on Wednesday and is now sporting a colorful cast. Holly's friend Rachael is recovering from two surgeries on her arm and her hip. Her Mother and father made it from Great Britain to Alaska and we are hoping that they will attend our club in the near future. Holly wants to thank Andy Reimer for gifting her his corvette. In her words "It's the most gracious act of kindness she has ever experienced in her entire lifetime.
Perhaps no Rotary Youth Exchange Student has had a more interesting and challenging year than Lucas Gonçalves Pimenta. The title to this story would be more accurate by reading ... "from Brazil to Russia, to Brazil to Alaska to Brazil."
Returns to Alaska August 7 at 8:41 p.m. after 11 months in Furtwangen, Germany. Stan and Loni will host a party for her on Saturday, August 8, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Please RSVP using the evite announcement sent to your email of record on July 22. Or call or email Stan at 232.8730 or stan.hooley@gmail.com.
Twenty Rotarians and guests gathered at the home of John and Kaye Zwiacher July 24 to give a proper send-off to our 2009 Rotaplast Volunteers. Toni Schmidt (Wasilla Rotary), Debra Bushnell and Brad Gamble (Eagle River Rotary) will leave August 9 for Aracaju, Brazil to support the medical team repairing cleft lips and palates for deserving children there.
To submit news for our club website and our club newsletter, please email your stories or announcement, along with photographs (with a description for a caption) to Stan Hooley at mailto:stan.hooley@gmail.com
A special thank you to each of our sponsors and especially to Cheryl & Mike Combs for their leadership in making this event a success. Thanks also to Loni Mrozik for her efforts.
Thanks to Andy, Sandy and Alex Reimer for volunteering to serve as Host Family for Jonas from August to November and to Bev Nash and Bud Jahn for hosting him from December to March.
Remember to contact Andy by phone at either (373-1200 (o), 376-3947 (h), or via email at reimer@mtaonline.net) to make arrangements to include Jonas in your family and individual activities whenever possible.
Together, we can make this an incredible year for Jonas!
Our very own District Governor Clyde outside of the Hyatt Hotel at the recent Rotary International Convention in Birmingham, England. We are grateful for his service, but we're happy to have him back...
Fanni and her family arrived home in Hungary safely. We'll miss Fanni, but know that her life as well as ours, are richer because of Rotary Youth Exchange!
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Our club is growing! We have welcomed several new members to our club in the past few months. We have also had fellow club members receive additional Paul Harris Pins! Good job! Oh - and congratulations to Linda Brandon on her engagement. That's a diamond she's showing off!
Thank you to all who helped with the annual Youth Christmas Activities. They were a huge success! From the movie "Sing" to the "Get Your Skate On" ice skating and the swimming party, youth in the community were able to enjoy fun safe activities during the hoiday break. These activies could not happen without the support of our club members who donate their time to helping greet the community and sharing their Rotary passion. 
Three members of our club were recently awarded Paul Harris Pins for their contributions to the Paul Harris Foundation.
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next year for more fun!
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Foundation Dinner, Nov 1, Valley Cinema
