Soundings (3/13/07)

Posted by Stowe Talbot 
 
 

Flag Salute and Invocation by Mike Kirkland

Visiting Rotarians:  Dr. Gary Snyder, Dale Kinsley

Guests: None

Announcements

Board meeting tomorrow at Oboe Cafe 7:30AM!

Dinners Rotario:  McEvoy dinner this Friday night, and still openings are still available.

International Service Support Luncheon (Pure Water project) will take place May 6th.

Student of the Month is Jaspreet Singh.  Dr Kerry Mance, Assistant Principal of Squalicum High School, introduced Jaspreet Singh.  He is an outstanding scholar who volunteers regularly for Habitat for Humanity.  George Bowen presented Jaspreet with an honorarium and certificate.

Donations Committee:  Julie Farrow, the development director for "Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services", was on hand to thank us for our contribution to her organization.  Specifically, our money will help support "Healthy Relationship" classes for "at-risk" teen girls - an eleven week program that teaches assertiveness, conflict resolution, and helps the girls make good choices for their future.

 

Bucks in the Bay

  • Barry thanked Orphalee for filling in while he was in Kauai;
  • Denise Bosman for trip to Palm Springs, and Lynden victory at State;
  • Harold Scott for missed meetings;
  • Donna Edquist for missed meeting last week, asking people to sell raffle tickets to our upcoming Luncheon fundraiser, registration available online via our Website;
  • Tim Krell for finally finishing son's hockey season (over 50 games!);
  • Chuck Walter for week in Bahamas;
  • Roger Long wife's relative (his name is Blake Lewis) is a contestant on American Idol;
  • Curt Smith for loss of Joan Beardsley;
  • Mike Kirkland for second grandchild on the way, and a Duck buck;
  • Terry Brown for Cougars going to NCAA, and getting elected to school board;
  • Bob Newell for Palm Springs and golf;
  • Glendine had good trip to Honduras, visited six villages;
  • Art Runestrand for wife's success with a submission to the Watercolor Society's "Open Exhibition", and granddaughter's continued swimming success;
  • Scott Walker grateful for wonderful life changes over the past decade;
  • Dick Stark for local high school teams' successes at State, especially Lynden boys basketball; 
  • Matt Groenig for Disneyland trip.

Sergeant at Arms by Robin Schmidt
Matt Groening and Scott Walker, John and Gary Snyder, Stan, Ron Hardesty, Denise Bosman, Bill Gorman, Pete and Sarah, Husky fans.

Program
Barry thanks Bob Moles and all those who participated in the Honduras projects.

Barry then introduced Dale Kinsley, Superintendent of Bellingham Public Schools. Dale has been our superintendent since 1991 and will be retiring this year.

Dale thanked us (and our Rotary club) for being such supportive community members; he feels fortunate to have worked in a place like Bellingham. Many changes for the better have taken place in the last few years: New technology and new schools. The population of students is now about 11,000 (including some who are at community college full time). New measures have been introduced for determining if students are meeting the standards they should be.

Today the US is preparing for intense workforce competition from millions of highly educated new workers from the emerging economies. Today only about 10% of the jobs in the US are truly "unskilled", so we need to equip our students with better tools and skills than we used to. Yet, the quality of secondary education in Washington state is slipping; both compared to other states and in terms of "real dollar" spending.

Respectfully Submitted,
Stowe Talbot