"What Can We Learn from the El Paso ISD Board of Managers' Experience?"
Dee Margo
Board President
El Paso ISD Board of Managers
The Texas Commissioner of Education Michael Williams recently announced his decision to appoint a Board of Manager to assume oversight of the Beaumont Independent School District. While that decision is being appealed, residents turn attention to learning about the role and responsibilities of a Board of Managers, its functioning, and what can be expected.
An identical course of action was announced for the El Paso ISD in December of 2012, and it has operated with a Board of Managers for more than a year. We welcome the TEA-appointed Board President, Mr. Dee Margo.
"A resident of El Paso for over three decades, Dee Margo has dedicated his life to serving others. He is deeply committed to fulfilling his civic duty, and has taken leadership roles in numerous groups working to better the El Paso community and improve the quality of life. Those areas include jobs and infrastructure, education, health care and water quality.
He has been a strong leader in growing and diversifying El Paso's economy as an active member of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation, and the Paso Del Norte Group. Mr. Margo also helped found the Border Fund, a non-profit foundation providing more than $26 million in charitable grants to local volunteer groups; and Operation Noel, which provides more than 18,000 coats for needy El Paso children, from toddlers to teenagers, each Christmas.
A current member of the World Presidents Organization, and past member of the Young Presidents Organization, Mr. Margo has been honored as an exemplary role model in business ethics."
Ever wish YOU had the opportunity to ring the opening bell at the meeting?
For a donation of $25 to the Beaumont Rotary Foundation, you will be allowed to do just that. You will be called up to ring the bell to start the meeting.
When he rings the bell to conclude the meeting, President Chad Blanchard will match your donation with another $25 donation to the Beaumont Rotary Foundation!
How do you feel about doing some service for our fellow Rotarians in the Spindletop Club? We need a Pit Crew to feed the workers during the Soap Box Derby. With a great grill from Gerald Condon and Collision & Classics, we prepare and serve a continental breakfast and fresh hamburgers and hotdogs at lunchtime. It's really a lot of fun and fellowship as we provide a service for these friends. Sign up if you can help at: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0E4AADAF22AAFD0-spindletop
Shirts, shirts, and more shirts! It is estimated that District 5910 Rotarians donated 25,000 t-shirts for a Nicaraguan project in which the shirts will be made into diapers. While every club had large donations, the Beaumont Club pulled an 18-foot long horse trailer that was FULL! Thank you to Pat Anderson for loading and transporting all we collected. Thank you to Florian Estrada and Salvation Army for handling pick-ups and storage until we could deliver. Thank you to West Brook and Monsignor Kelly Interact clubs, the youth group and parish of St. Jude Thaddeus Church, and the youth group and parish of Infant Jesus Catholic Church of Lumberton for the major, organized drives. And many thanks to the individual Rotarians, family members and friends who generously delivered bags and boxes full. You all help make a difference in this world!
It was the first Rotary Golf Fellowship, at least in a number of years, and it was a great success! Harland Merriam, who instigated and organized the outing, reported there were 15 Rotarians and friends who enjoyed the fun event. Watch for the next opportunity and get your clubs ready!
The Rotary Club of Beaumont delegation eagerly participated in the 2014 District 5910 Conference last weekend. It was a grand review of the Rotary projects of the past year as everyone kept a keen eye on the plans for the upcoming year. Clubs of the district applauded one another as awards and honors for outstanding achievements were presented.
Pictured below is Centennial President Becky Mason as she and Bobby Chapman, President of the Spindletop Club, prepare for the Parade of Club Banners. In the second photo, she is pictured with District Governor David Johnson accepting a Presidential Citation for the West Brook Interact Club. The Lamar University Rotaract Club also received a Presidential Citation.
The 2015 District Conference will be hosted by our Club in Beaumont and our delegation hosted a hospitality suite during the conference to promote. Thank you to Angela Baker and Chris Lamson for providing tasty snack foods and to Becky and Chuck Mason for the beverages.
Mark your calendar now to be a participant for all or part of the event on May 1-3, 2015. If you would like to be a part of the planning Committee, let Becky Mason know as she will soon be putting together our team and starting the planning for this huge undertaking.
The Rotary Club of Beaumont will host an Exchange Student for the 2014-15 school year and we need to locate three families who would enjoy this opportunity to learn from a student from another country while sharing the American culture and lifestyle with him/her. Please let us know if you are interested in being a part of a great opportunity.
Indeed Rotary went to work, and it was wonderful! All those who attended thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to visit another Rotarian's place of work and learn more about what they do, why and how. Here is one such report:
"Tommy Hebert is a Master Rosarian...and those of us from Rotary (Angela and Ray Baker, Larry Beaulieu, Richard and Lillian Bothel, Jay Johnson, Tim and Sheenah O'Halloran, Vernon Pierce, and Cynthia Wolf) who went to his home today to learn about his passion for roses and of how he uses his background in biology to create new hybrids of roses had a memorable day of Rotary Goes to Work! As we listened to Tommy while gathered in his dining room, we first learned of the hundreds of rose bushes that he has; then we learned about some of the roses that he had "created" and the process for that "creation" and we saw examples of each that he had named in the vase of roses in the the center of the dining room table. He calls them his "babies" and he has lovingly named them for the beloved members of his family. And then we went outside to learn about and to admire all of the roses. Some bushes are 30 years old; some a year old; some just little seedlings that look like strawberry plants. He even demonstrated the process of creating the potential for hybrid rose seeds and of how to start a rose bush from what is pruned from an existing rose bush. Tommy made it all seem so simple; and he gave us tips on what to do with our own roses."
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