Click here to see documents relating to the latest Club Meeting
09-17-19 Rotary Meeting
President Maureen Merrill opened the meeting at 7:30
We had Officer Mike Rausch lead us in the pledge and then he asked us to do a little exercise. Raise your hands said the Windsor Police Officer… and we complied.
Visiting Rotarians: Glenda Sales introduced past Windsor Rotarian and now Kalamazoo Rotarian Dennis Harris. Dennis is the Kalamazoo president-elect and according to Glenda a known “Pet trafficker.”
Scribe for the day: Tom Boylan
Guests of Rotarians:
Marie Bannister Windsor High Vineyard academy introduced by Carol Martin
JB Leep introduced Windsor High School principal, Lamar Collins and his wife Rose
Pres Maureen brought up Vittoria, our newest exchange daughter from Italy
Pres Maureen also asked for all the past presidents to participate in handing off an official Past-President pin to Sandie Krutz.
Look for an email invite to the Rotary District 5130 Foundation South dinner in November.
Bill Conklin let us know we can pick up and drive home with a great Tri-Tip dinner on October 8th. The proceeds are going to benefit the Windsor High Vineyard Academy and the Windsor Rotary Community Foundation.
SCARC is set for September 26th at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club.
John LeCave is looking for the newest presidential recruit. Let him know who you think would be the best candidate.
We were reminded there is a suggestion box in the disguise of a brown paper bag on the table.
Brent Kidder was found among the crowd and was introduced as another guest. Brent let us know he is standing in for Chief Ruben Martinez.
Glenn Sugden let us know we are supporting the Windsor Robotics program. Our role this year is to become an incubator for others to join the competition. Tom Hassur wants to know how he can compete. Glenn assured him there is a “senior” competition.
Dennis Harris was asked to give an update on his Rotary efforts in Kalamazoo. It is going to be one heck of a Memorial Day parade.
Sandie Krutz updated our efforts for the Global Grant we secured for San Jose, Brazil. A hospital is benefitting from our club members generosity. We helped to build a new surgical center and it is being well received by the citizens of the city. Sandie is going to be on hand when the grand opening happens.
JB introduced our speaker Lamar Collins, principal of Windsor High School.
Lamar introduced Bianca and Daisy, students of the Vineyard Academy who had an opportunity to work with Bill Conklin to provide Tri-Tip fundraising for Windsor. He then went on to share some of his past, which included his time in the Army, as a football coach, as a motivational speaker. We were introduced to his lovely wife and his family. Amazing talents don’t fall far from the tree.
His major focus for Windsor High School is safety, success, and that the school has systems in place. He feels the school needs to be at the forefront of safety. He is finding ways to reach out to those students who are isolated from others to put an adult in touch with them. Building relationships will increase safety on the campus.
Success is measured in a variety of ways and his philosophy is to help steer students to the best program available for the talents they possess. Not every student is destined for college and he is supporting moving students into the trades, or the military, or whatever excites them and gives them an opportunity to make a fair living in their future.
Lamar is a believer of systems. Policy, processes, and procedures have a place in education and it helps to build a stronger bond between teachers and students. He shared that when he landed in Windsor, he landed in a gold mine. He gives tremendous credit to the staff that has embraced him and share their knowledge of how the school works. “We are set up for greatness,” he shared and went on to ask, “Why can’t we be the best school in the State?”
This is a principal who is not afraid of hard work and he has the enthusiasm for making Windsor High a beacon to guide others who want the same level of success.