Notes on El Camino College: November 15, 2016 Luncheon
(REDONDO BEACH, California November 16, 2016) PDG Vicki Radel passed on the Club flag that she received from the .jpg)
Inglewood Rotary Club and reminded us to bring in donations of children’s coats for the Domestic Violence Abuse Center. Bring donations a week from Wednesday to her or to George Schane.
PDG Eli Gauna presented the Paul Harris +8 to Colette Paul; she and Bill Paul have together donated $18,000 to the Rotary Foundation. Alexis was recognized for her donation of $5,000 and Jim Sheehy for his donation of $5,000.
Alexis Sheehy presented our servers Norma and Maggie with a holiday gift in appreciation.jpg)
of their service to the club.
Marcelo Goncalves thanked those who participated in the Salvation Army dinner.
Finemaster Terry Bichlmeier called up Colette and Bill Paul who announced their donation to the Community Foundation in the amount of $1000 for the El Camino College Vocational Program.
Bill Gard reminded us of the Holiday Party December 3 from 5-9 PM at Bill and Colette Paul’s home.
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There will be a Thanksgiving potluck cocktail party and dinner at the Weigels’ home for those of us who are in town.
Nasrin Mogadashian presented the Paul Harris award to Pearl Davis (seated left) in honor of her 90th birthday.
Guests were Athena Marano and Wes Gard.
The Flag Salute was led by D.P. Agarwal. The Inspiration on calm and patience was given by Walter Campbell. Our greeter was Colette Paul. Meals on Wheels were delivered by Jim Stickler and Nancy Langdon.
Music accompanying lunch was the Violin Sonata #9 by Ludwig von Beethoven, played by Pinchas Zukerman.
Our luncheon speaker, Andrea Sala, is the Executive Director of the El Camino College Foundation, whose mission is to 
develop community relationships and raise funds to support students’ success in education and life.
Sala has been in fundraising, development, marketing, and public relations for over 30 years (a very long time!). Prior to taking her fairly new role at El Camino College, she was the Executive Director of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Education Foundation, where she increased the donation to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District from $700,000 annually in 2001 to $3.4 million annually in 2015.
El Camino College was founded in 1947. It currently has approximately 19,000 full time equivalent students. There’s a rumor going around that it is hard to get classes at El Camino, but this is no longer true! Enrollment is down and the number of faculty members has risen.
El Camino’s main goal is to get students into college and then out again, into 4-year colleges and universities and into the workforce.
Sixty-seven percent of students are attending part time, and 33% are full-time. They have a 49% completion rate, which is excellent.
Some of El Camino Colleges offerings include:
* Career Technical Education. They have 33 programs, including Nursing, HVAC, and Welding.
* Extra counseling for students right out of high school.
* Honors transfer program.
* STEM Program.
* Dual enrollment, in which they teach high school students and the students get both high school and college credit.
* Athletics! There are 11 sports for men and 11 sports for women to participate in.
* Lots of new facilities, including a new stadium, gymnasium, sand volleyball, parking lots, and a fine arts building.
* An emergency book fund for students who can’t afford their books in an emergency situation.
See videos at www.elcamino.edu/letsgo