Bob Barmore opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Ed James offered the invocation. Our guests today were MaryAnn Bawden’s Husband Gary and Irondale HS Activities Director Chris Fink.
President Gerry Tietz reported that he just experienced his first District 5960 Board meeting. Gerry will be representing medium sized clubs on the Board. Congratulations, Gerry!
Bob Barmore said that the meeting setup and program assignment list has some months with only two Rotarians assigned so far. He would like to have 3 members assigned for each month, so if you could help out by joining one of these 2 person teams, please let Bob Barmore know.
John Ordway asked those who have not paid their dues to do so, if at all possible, by our next meeting.
Ed James passed around thank you notes from the students who received tree saplings in our Fourth Grade Foresters tree give-away.
Cindy Carlson reported on the recent District Grants Subcommittee meeting. There were 22 applications with requests for a total of $110,000. Available funds are only $78,000 so difficult decisions will need to be made.
Don’t miss next week’s meeting when Gerry will pass the gavel to incoming co-Presidents John Marg-Patton and Cindy Carlson.
Note that next week’s Board meeting will begin at 10:30AM
The July issue of the Rotarian features the Rotaract Club of Nakivale, the first Rotaract club organized within a refugee camp. Our club has donated $500 to help fund the club’s projects, so it’s great to get a closer look at this remarkable Rotaract club.
Amy Janacek announced that 16 Irondale seniors graduated from high school this year having already earned their AA degree, thanks to the Early College program.
Cindy Carlson said that eight homeless high school students at Life Prep Academy will be the recipients of brand new complete bed sets as a result of our fund-a-cause effort at the Gold Plate Dinner. Dennis Connolly, Pam Wolf Sladek, Cindy Carlson Ed James, Dave Hoel and Jeff Benson (all shown below) were on hand to deliver and assemble the beds. Life Prep Director, Pam Wolf Sladek, sent this thank you:
Cindy and NB/MV Rotarians,
Thank you so much for the new beds and the help assembling them! So appreciated!!!! We are excited to have NEW beds for students that will be coming to Life Prep Academy soon!
Take care,
Pamela Wolf Sladek
Director
Life Prep Academy
Amy Janecek was excited to welcome ISD 621 Director of Community Partnerships, Mindy Handberg and Irondale’s Post Secondary Planning Coordinator, Michael Werner to speak to us about Early College. Michael Werner was first to speak.
He spoke about how the Mounds View School District’s Early College Program helps fulfill the district’s Equity Promise by ensuring that students are prepared for post-secondary success regardless of race, class or disability. There are many early college opportunities available including: Anoka Ramsey Community College, University of Minnesota concurrent enrollment, Advanced Placement, P.S.E.O. and Articulated Course Credit. The wide range of Early College opportunities enabled 95% of Irondale Students to take at least one post-secondary level course this year! Mike also talked about district 621’s budding partnership with local employers to provide coursework aligned to industry learning pathways. This program is called Pathways to Possibilities, and offers opportunities in automotive technology, business management, information technology, construction, solar technology and engineering, among others.
Mindy Handberg took the podium and used the Construction and Solar Technology pathway as one example of how these kinds of creative public/private partnerships provide other post secondary options for students. One of Mindy’s roles as Community Involvement Director is to promote these kinds of partnerships. Right now, Century College, Mortenson Construction, Parson’s Electric, St Paul Building Trades, MN State Energy Center and the Construction Careers Foundation are all working with District 621 to develop this Construction and Solar Technology pathway. Mindy would love to hear from other businesses that see the value in these partnerships. These partnerships could be in the form of internships, summer jobs, site tours, or participating in advisory groups to dialog about business needs or review curriculum and/or equipment needs for the district.
For more information, contact:
Chris Fink, Mike Werner, Mindy Handberg and Amy Janecek are pictured below.
