Quietly Do Something Amazing: Lily Rubio and Zela-Lee Flores, Co-Presidents of the St. Isabella School Interact Club
Our guest speakers for August 11, 2022, were co-presidents of the St. Isabella School Interact Club, Lily Rubio and Zela-Lee Flores. Lily and Zela-Lee are now entering high school at Marin Catholic in Marin County and gave us an enthusiastic and enlightening summary of their time running the Interact Club during their 8th grade year at St. Isabella. By the way, Lily and Zela-Lee had lots of kudos for their St. Isabella Interact coordinator, our own President Jack Strange. Jack has every reason to be proud of these energetic young women!
Covid-19 put their Interact Club on hold for most of 2020 and 2021. They had only one Interact meeting after the mandated health closure of 2020. Lily told us that she had been so excited to become involved in Interact when she first became eligible (6th grade) and was dismayed about not being able to participate once the closure occurred. She said it was like having your favorite TV show cancelled! When Lily and Zela-Lee entered their 8th grade year, and the Covid-19 restrictions were mostly lifted, they decided to resurrect the Club. They had strong support from President Jack. They had no problem getting a very large number of interested members and had a flood of applicants for the Board of Directors. Once they selected the 18-member Board, they had their first meeting on September 29, 2021. Their meetings were always student-run and follow Roberts Rules of Order. They make all of their own financial decisions, with approval of an adult to sign the checks.
Their club’s accomplishments were amazing. They instituted a Music & Memory program at Broadway Villa in Sonoma. This program allows these institutionalized elders, most with some form of memory loss, to enjoy great music and recall what their lives were like when they were younger. The club instituted a winter coat drive at Redwood Gospel Mission, sold 8,000 Christmas ornaments made in Vietnam, delivered 40 St. Patrick Day cards to elders at Broadway Villa, delivered 781 books to the Global Book Exchange, donated $2,000 to Ukrainian relief efforts, and made $1,100 in a bake sale. They also had a wonderful “Winteract” dance at the Marin County Country Club! They were also very proud of planting a bougainvillea plant at Broadway Villa; they say that the plant will get prettier as their club gets stronger.
All of these accomplishments earned the St. Isabella School Interact Club an award for “Interact Club of the Month” from their District. Their club’s vision for the future is “quietly do something amazing.” Many thanks to Lily and Zela-Lee for their presentation. We predict great things from these young women; they will undoubtedly keep up the good work in high school and keep their vision in mind as they make their way through a world of many distractions!
