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Cogitator Oct 24, 2012
Steve Kitchin, New England Tech Vice President
MILLION DOLLAR MEAL AT NEW ENGLAND INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
VISITING ROTARIANS
Bill Palmisciano, from AXA Advisors and Warwick Rotary, joined us.
ANNIVERSARIES
Happy wedding anniversary wishes this week go out to Dave (and Sharyn) Iannuccilli, married 40 years on October 21st, and to Richard (and Susan) Waterman, married 27 years as of October 26th.
ELECTION DAY BREAKFAST
John Wolcott reminded everyone that our Election Day Breakfast will be on the 6th of November, from 6:30am to 9:30am at St. Luke’s Parish Center. Signup sheets were on the tables for volunteers. Don’t forget to contact President Ken Colaluca for a great bargain—a $25 business card sized ad on the Election Day placemats. With Rotarians selling their six tickets and getting the word out around town, along with an advertisement in the upcoming East Greenwich Magazine, we’re hoping for a great turnout. Finally, make sure to get Chuck Sauer your $36 by next week from your ticket sales.
WARWICK ROTARY, NOVEMBER 15TH
US Navy Captain and Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Hudner will be the guest speaker for Warwick Rotary’s (Thursday) November 15th meeting. Bill Palmisciano invited all East Greenwich Rotarians to join the Warwick club that day for what should be an excellent presentation.
PAUL HARRIS FELLOWSHIP AWARD
George Popella shared some history of Rotary Foundation’s Million Dollar Meal and Paul Harris Fellowship Awards. http://www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/DxProgramHome/programhome.aspx?cid=4906&pid=49652
George then asked Gill Thorpe to select the next recipient from his Paul Harris Team. Last year Gill donated his Paul Harris Award posthumously to his brother Bob, whose P-47 Thunderbolt was shot down in the Pacific during World War II. Congratulations to Gill’s selection…Jane Boynton!
ROTARACT/NEW ENGLAND TECH
Bill TenEyck, New Generations Chair and Rotaract Club leader-extraordinaire thanked Vin Meola for bringing our Million Dollar Meal to New England Tech. Bill praised the 17 NEIT students for all of their work in getting the new Rotaract Club off the ground as well as enthusiastically supporting our club’s charity projects over the past year. Most recently, the Rotaract Club did an incredible job unloading hundreds of pumpkins for the Pumpkin Patch fundraiser at United Methodist Church. President Dathan Newton joined us for lunch, as did members Antonio Adderly and Byron Valle.
Melissa Hague and Deb Lundin, student advisors at New England Tech, have worked with Bill in getting our first-ever-sponsored Rotaract Club up and running. Finally, Melissa made sure everyone in the room knew it was, more than anything or anyone, Bill TenEyck’s herculean efforts which have the Rotaract Club off to such a successful start.
Byron Valle, Dathan
Newton, Bill TenEyck, Antonio Adderly, and Melissa Hague
GUEST SPEAKER/PROGRAM
Steve Kitchin, Vice President for Corporate Education and Training, New England Institute of Technology
Steve Kitchin has never been prouder of his institution. New England Tech has risen to true prominence among Rhode Island’s colleges and dominance among local technical/specialized job training centers.
He thanked Rotary ‘for its connection to us…and for allowing us to show what we can bring to the community.’ He, too, passed laurels to our own Bill TenEyck.
Rhode Island’s unemployment is 10.9%. Kitchin made a point that there is a jobs gap in this state, not a skills gap as the press likes to portray these days. The state needs to be involved in ‘general’ jobs creation. In the meantime, New England Tech is doing its job helping to fill any local ‘skills’ gap.
The accreditation process which New England Tech goes through is intense. This and scores of dedicated professionals ensure that New England Tech carries out its mission--preparing students for technical and mechanical careers in the local job marketplace. Beneficiaries of New England Tech’s advanced skills training include General Dynamics, the Woods Hole Institute, and even a German airport.
Kitchin announced that New England Tech was recently awarded a $2.5 million Marine Trade grant from the US Department of Labor.
‘We learn from experience, we’re proud of what we are, and we want East Greenwich to be proud of us, too. We are committed to first-class facilities and first-class collegiate academics and activities.’
Kitchin noted that the greatest predictor of academic success is a simple factor—good attendance. Additionally, he cited positively a general trend in the United States--a commitment to ‘STEM’ (science, technology, engineering, math), after years of de-emphasis.
Finally, he mentioned New England Tech’s ‘good citizenship’ in both Warwick and East Greenwich via its generous payments in lieu of taxes. He even spoke of the possibility of New England Tech granting to the Town of East Greenwich the golf course on the New England Tech campus.