Our meeting began at noon sharp with 59 Rotary members in zoom attendance. After the invocation and song, president Good provided us with a few brief updates and reminders.
During his remarks, and for the first time, we saw two questions flash on our screens quizzing us about our knowledge of Rotary-related items. The vast majority of participants answered the two questions correctly.
Karen Cullings, executive director of the Dauphin County Library System, provided us with a new member overview. Growing up in a family of five siblings, she developed a love of reading early. A graduate of our favorite community college, HACC, Karen went on to earn other degrees. A native and current resident of Carlisle, she and her husband, a retired fire fighter, have various interests. Of hers, a book club, writing and spending time with her two cats and daughter are high on her list. A transplant from the Colonial Park Rotary Club, Karen enjoys investing her time in mentoring and education.
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John Morefield, co-chair of our program committee, graciously welcomed, Maurice ‘Reese’ Flurie, president and ceo of Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA), to the Club as our speaker.
Dr. Flurie has witnessed exponential growth since his arrival at CCA since 2009. The number of employees has grown from 80 to 700+. The enrollment has grown from 2,000 to approximately 15,000.
Dr. Flurie provided context between K-12 charter schools and traditional K-12 public schools. He asked the club members to reflect on several questions regarding “traditional education” and the way K-12 education and beyond is delivered today as it was 70+ years ago. For example, why do we still place 14-18-year-old children in warehouse formats? Why do we still heavily promote a college education rather than what is good (for example, the trades) for each of our students? Why are we not encouraging students to pursue entrepreneurship, especially within the trades?
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Dr. Flurie concluded his presentation by asking how the pandemic is going to change all aspects of education and, as he said, “how will it make us rethink much of how we deliver education.” His final questions were: “What changes are we incorporating into our organization currently? How efficient is our organization becoming? How are we using artificial intelligence in reviewing data and information?
Dr. Flurie answered a couple of K-12-related questions and then was thanked by president Good for his time, insights and, especially, thoughtful questions.
Finally, president Good reminded us that next week’s meeting will focus on the Harrisburg Rotary’s 2019-20 Year in Review. Mr. Good informed us that a survey would be forthcoming to help us make an informed decision on how and when to proceed with our meetings.
The meeting concluded at 12:57 p.m.
Submitted By Ski
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