Crossroads is a school with a unique vision for the Longmont area. Their mission is to assist middle and high school students who have experienced academic and/or behavioral struggles in traditional schools, to reach their potential through an individually distinctive, learner-appropriate program.
Barb Bulthuis, the Executive Director provided a brief historical review of academic models in the US. As the growth in American cities rose, the early American learning model centered on a factory-style learning of the 3 R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic). Classroom sizes comprised 30 students, of the same age learning the same material. While this model proved effective for many, some differentiating began to develop. Ideas such as “No child left behind” arose as the discovery that children learn differently and more academic individualization offers more success for students. Charter schools, magnet schools, vocational trade schools and certificate programs now offer successful paths for many students.
Detective Stephen Desmond of the Longmont Police Department provided us with a wealth of information about How to Protect Against Identity Theft and Fraud. He named several groups responsible for the problem here in Longmont: Asian and Russian mafia, Nigerian, Canadian, & East European scammers, as well as local meth addicts. He warned against counterfeit checks (which can bounce back up to a year after transaction), deals that sound “too good to be true,” phone and internet scams such as fake Lotteries, telemarketing, the Grandparent Scam, Online dating and Phishing. Because scammers have gotten quite sophisticated, DO NOT be fooled by an email with your bank’s logo, especially if you notice grammar and spelling mistakes in the text. Watch out for fake ATM’s, skimmers on gas pumps, etc. In general, credit cards are safer than debit cards, and the ones with a chip are best.
Chris Ray announced the giving totals of our October Polio Fundraiser. Our club raised $20,618 ($10,308 + the $10,000 challenge match), Compounding that with the Gates Foundation 2:1 match, our grand total is..... 
Paul Flanders may have retired from teaching high school, but he continues to share his vast knowledge of history to numerous groups. We were lucky to have Paul join us for lunch and share some interesting highlights of the The Battle of Britain. He recommended a new book on this topic: The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson. 
Rotary Club member, Dick Lyons has served as a Election Observer, volunteer for the State Department, serving in Europe and Central Asia. He has completed about 15 Election Observation missions in Europe and Russia. Leading into his talk, he offered this disclaimer, "The information shared today is my opinion and does not reflect the opinions of the OSCE”. So who is the OSCE? Dick explained that this organization acts a bit like a “mini-UN” The OSCE is a forum for political dialogue on security issues for the joint action to improve the lives of individuals and communities. The OSCE has 57 participating states in Europe, Asia and North America. Dick guided us through several elements of the election process in countries he served, offering some compare and contrast with US election practices.
Veterans Village – Paul Melroy of Veterans Community Project
There’s no doubt that Dr. Don Haddad, Superintendent of schools, is proud of his 33,000 students. This is Don’s 21st year in the St. Vrain Valley School District and his 37th year in public education. Don stepped into this position when the district was in need of much repair and attention and now the successes of this district are many. St. Vrain is among Colorado’s top districts, now 7th largest school district and one of only 16 districts nationwide to win a 2012 Race to the Top grant-a $16.6 million windfall to fund programming in science, technology, engineering and math. St. Vrain has some the highest competitive graduation requirements (24 credits to graduate with three years of math) and a drop out rate of 0.%. Dr. Haddad reported he has over a thousand more students than last year, (current total=33K), with a build out plan of 80 thousand students. Academic programs are available for Pre-K (and FT kindergarten) through 14 (focused college programs). 
Andy McClure calls his sports announcing a hobby, but its something he does about 300 times a year. Having an education in both broadcasting and ministry, he has worked this "hobby job" in Colorado for two decades. Andy has a long resume of public address announcing work. The opportunity to be a sports announcer for the Tokyo Olympics kind of fell together naturally and he was thrilled to learn he would be working with women's volleyball. The pandemic made the 2020 Olympics rather surreal- No fans or family members were allowed to attend and of course McClure had to undergo quarantine. He could only go to the venue and his hotel, as well as get takeout or convenience store food. Security was also very rigorous. In spite of the challenges, the work was amazing and the experience, "unbelievable". 
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Service Above Self
Longmont, CO 80501
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