Pledge/Prayer: President Gerri
Song Led by: Andy
Brent's Card Game Winner: Carroll Bowser
Sergeants Report - Paul Moore:
Raffle Winners: Sam, Bill B, Joe F, John D
Guests: Jason Smith, Rod Mattison, Joseph Onofrio
Happy Bucks
Announcements - Pres. Gerri:
John Donnelly is going to Ghana Friday, Jan. 12th for a week. John took dollar donations from the club members in attendence - every dollar buys a child a pen. You can mail donations to FOR ONE WORLD, P.O. Box 161, South Lyme, CT 06376. Larger pledges also welcome.
Pres. Gerri read a thank you letter from Dan Prendergast, December Student of the Month from Old Saybrook
Pres. Gerri read a letter and passed pictures around from Bill McLaughlin with greetings from the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, CA. Rotary had a float and Bill sent some great shots.
Pres. Gerri read a letter from our own Keith Wescovitch in India. His visit is going very well and he attending a polio conference.
Carroll Bowser read a short story that tied in with our 4-way test. Look for more inspiring "Thoughts of the Day" from Carroll - a nice addition to our moring meetings.
Students of the Month (January 2007)
The recipients of our SOM awards for Science are:
John Carlson, Old Saybrook Presented by Mrs. Peterson
Andrew Wilson, Westbrook Presented by Principal Bob Hale
James Logan, Lyme-Old Lyme Presented by Mrs. Folger
Congratulations!
Program
Andy Anderson introduced our guest speaker, Joe Onofrio who is Old Saybrook's Interim Superintendent, taking over for recently departed Sal Pasquerella. Joe worked closely with Sal which has made a transition smoother. Joe is a doctoral candidate just completing his studies. Joe thanked the club for our support through the years, saying relationship building is a key to success for our youth.
Joe has worked on assisting in the transition while the Board of Ed. makes a decision on a permanent superintendent. He has overseen emergency preparedness and reports our school system has passed with flying colors. Our students consistenly perform beyond expectations and that's a reflection of our outstanding school system. Joe emphasized that we are in a global economy and our kids will have to be prepared to compete. He suggested reading the book, THE WORLD IS FLAT by Thomas Friedman. Technology is important but ultimately the importance of technology is connecting people.
While Joe is the interim superintendent, he does have a desire to become our full time superintendent. His relationship with the Board of Ed is excellent and he reports that the relationship between the school and community is also excellent.
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