Some of the earliest memories Kate Majerus has involve reading; whether she was hearing stories from her parents, or simply enjoying a book or two on her own in her room, a love of reading has dominated her young life -- and it's a desire to bring that interest to others, that is stoking her future plans.
Kate is a senior at Sycamore High School, and is interested in studying early childhood education upon graduation; she has already worked as a teacher's aide in Sycamore's elementary school system, and has seen up close the joy in children's eyes as they listen to and enjoy hearing a story which someone is reading for them. Kate says books always led her imagination to places far away, and she wants to be able to give other children that same opportunity.
Kate has spent four years on the High Honor Roll, has a GPA of 4.3 and is a 2017 Illinois State Scholar. She has also been captain of the girl's basketball and tennis teams, and has volunteered for projects and organizations ranging from Feed My Starving Children to Youth Engaged in Philanthropy. She is considering enrolling at institutions including Hope College, Lewis University and Carthage College.
The Sycamore Rotary Club is providing $100 for donation in her name to the charity of her choice; in keeping with her interest in reading, she has chosen Altrusa International's Bag of Books project -- which provides books to the families of newborn children at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, to help launch these children into the world of reading.
Jay Anderson says the motto at what was once Kishwaukee Community Hospital is "the patient comes first" -- and that the staff there wouldn't let him forget that phrase, even if he wanted to.
Anderson is now President of Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, part of the ever-expanding Northwestern Medicine group; the acquisition of Kishwaukee gives the company an even larger footprint in northern Illinois...but more importantly, it gives patients access to a wider variety of health care professionals and options.
Anderson says the staff has grown in the months since he's taken over; some are transfers from other health facilities in their network, but many are hospital employees who have worked their way up through the ranks. And he says that's what helps keep the hospital's personal connection to the community; to the people who work there, patients aren't just cases and files -- they're somebody's friend, relative, neighbor or someone in town they see on a regular basis. He says their desire to help people with which they're familiar, helps drive their effort to provide optimal care for everyone they serve.
Anderson says patients have immediate access to a wider array of care options, especially when dealing with long-term issues such as cancer or heart disease; their sister hospital in Winfield (the former Central DuPage Hospital) is now being developed into a hub for cardiology care...allowing many patients to get the assistance they need within a reasonable distance from home. In turn, Anderson is doing what he can to draw the best available medical professionals from their main hospital in downtown Chicago out to DeKalb; he says he doesn't need many to service the patients in this area...just a few who are highly-skilled in their field, and want to make the commitment to living and working here in our county.
We are entering the second semester of the school year for South Prairie Elementary, which has hosted Rotarians each week as part of our Rotary Readers project.
Each Thursday, Rotarians come to the school with two book selections; one is read to the students, and both are donated to the library. Each Rotarian also comes prepared to discuss his or her occupation, and what reading has meant to them in their lives. Each visit runs from about 9:45 to 10:30 a.m.
For those signed up to read during this second half of the school year, here is the remaining schedule:
January 11 Jim Stoddard
January 18 Jeff Keicher
January 25 Julie Sgarlata
February 1 Troy Oates
February 8 Riley Oncken
February 15 Curt Lang
March 1 Heidi Wright
March 8 Ray Dembinski
March 15 Eric Jones
March 22 Jim Buck
April 5 Sally Bruch
April 12 Luca Giese
Apirl 19 MJ Schwartz
Apirl 26 Lavarre Uhlken
May 3 Sally Bruch
May 10 Sue Emberson
May 17 Michelle Jurkovic
Rotary Reader Tips:
Be sure to arrive early enough to have time to pick out your two books and rehearse the one book that you will read to the third graders.
Engage the children by asking questions of them during the time you are reading. Add your own personal comments to what is being read about the story or happening to the characters.
Plans are beginning to take shape for this year's Rotarians at Work Days. You read that right -- Days.
This project has evolved to the point that it can no longer fit into a single weekend; it will now be spread out over several weeks in April and May...giving Sycamore Rotarians, and everyone in our Rotary-affiliated clubs, the opportunity to take part in at least one project serving the community.
We will also be adding a new project to the line-up: the historic North Grove School one-room schoolhouse on Brickville Road (pictured).
Here is a preliminary schedule:
Saturday, April 21st -- Old North Grove School on Brickville Road, 9:00 a.m.
Saturday, May 5th -- Sycamore Park District Park Pride Day -- Rotary Park at Sycamore Lake, 9:00 a.m.
Saturday, May 12th -- Pay it Forward House, 9:00 a.m. and Kishwaukee Special Recreation Association at Hopkins Park, 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, May 19th -- Youth Service Bureau Bicycle Auction at DeKalb H.S. Fieldhouse, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (two shifts)
More information on each of these events will be released in the weeks to come; and Rotarians will be invited to sign up for at least one project...and lend their muscle, to help provide maintenance and other clean-up work for each of these not-for-profit organizations.
As a reminder, the club is collecting your Rotarian Magazines (after you read them of course) to hand out to guests and others in order to share information about the great things Rotary does around the world.
If you have any spares, please bring them to one of our meetings and put them in the box by the badges.
The Sycamore Rotary Club plans on having a booth at this year's DeKalb-Sycamore Chamber Expo; it will be held on Thursday, March 29th from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the DeKalb High School Fieldhouse.
This event is open to participation by all DeKalb and Sycamore Chamber of Commerce members; the B2B portion runs from 3:00 to 4:00, and the event is then open to the general public from 4:00 to 7:00.
This will be a prime opportunity for our Rotary Club to show the public who we are and what we do, and perhaps convince some of our friends and neighbors to consider membership in Rotary.
We will be needing Rotarians to man this booth throughout the afternoon and early evening; volunteers will be sought, beginning with the Club Committee Meeting Day on January 31st.
The next Club Committee Meeting Day will be held on Wednesday, January 31st, 2018; in lieu of a regular meeting, all committees with projects coming up during the next quarter of the Rotary year will have the opportunity to meet and work on details of their events -- putting club time to use, instead of having to meet via e-mail or after a regular meeting.
Upcoming projects would include the February and March program committees, Rural-Urban Day, the District Conference on April 27-28 at Faranda's, Hula-for-Loota and Rotarians at Work Day. Others may be added, as required.
Attendance Report -- January 17, 2018
Attendance: 66.18%
Guests of Members:Jonathan Delaughter (Ahmed Kamel), Steve Brunett (Suzanne Anderson)
