President Maureen Merrill rang a virtual bell at her home and shared it with the club via Zoom. We had 35 people in attendance.
Is it, Is it, Will it, Will it… An easy way to recall the actual 4-way test
Inspiration is self taught for the day… and the week.
The written words were provided by Tom Boylan.
Visiting Rotarians:
No visitors today.
Guests of Rotarians:
Bill Bolster introduced Caden Hulett, Our just returned from the Netherlands Outbound Exchange Student.
Kate Smith our outbound 2020 student was introduced by her mom, Beth Smith.
Michael Juric introduced our speaker, Dr. Steve Herrington. Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools.
Announcements:
Rotarian of the Month Diane Brabitz got a shout out.
For the next two weeks we will be hearing from Students of the Year, led by Daniel Myers.
Bill Bolster let us know that Caden Hulett is back from the Netherlands which is where we sent him for his modified year as a Foreign Exchange Student. He started adapting to the country by learning the language while still in Windsor. Caden took us on a tour of his stay that started off with an introduction to the world of Cheese, and the beauty of the grounds for his host family.
We met his host family through the wonder of technology and Caden shared that he has been showing off his skills in the kitchen preparing American cuisine, Baked Beans, for the family. We met many of his friends as we toured the photos that will become his most treasured memories. We had a wrap up done in Dutch… the language.
Our newest member Mike Merrill was introduced by his President Maureen.
Carol Martin, Ken Moulton and John How were recognized for celebrating… while in place… their birthdays. We got to meet John’s family and took note that there are two new members to the How family one just arrived and the other is close behind.
Once more we were reminded of how unusual our club is to have four Past District Governors.
Pres Maureen offered a new character on screen that required Glenn Sugden to explain to the group how to work the Chat window within Zoom. We now know there are general comments and private chatting .
Wally Krutz was challenged to come up with an idea to augment our food drive and he came up with the”In lieu of breakfast,” idea to donate $5 for the breakfast we don’t physically attend. That small amount will go a long way towards helping to feed others in need.
Barbara McChesney gave us a Food Drive report sharing that the donations have dropped off, but they are keeping strong and keeping the food drive open. The following locations are available should you want to get out of the house and drop off some food.
Renee Hyde’s is accepting donations at her office: 9082 Windsor Rd
Other locations include:
- 9525 Jessica Drive
- 301 Jensen Ave.
- 277 Decanter Way
Program:
Steve Herrington was introduced by Michael Juric, who gave us a few pointers on how to thoroughly enjoy the speaker experience. We learned that Steve and Michael first met through the Windsor School District where Steve served as the Superintendent of Windsor schools. He is now the Superintendent of Sonoma County Schools.
Dr. Herrington quickly assigned Michael to become the moderator and relay the questions we have. Steve shared he has a true fondness and respect for Windsor. With over four decades in public schools he has spent his life working in school districts. The County Office of Education is considered a State agency , which works as a liaison between the state and the county schools. Sonoma County is the third largest school district in the state.
We found out that the loss of students from declining birth rate, two fires and a flood has reduced student enrollment dramatically. The list of catastrophic circumstances became a highlight of the presentation and we learned that more than 750 days of academic classes were lost. This causes trauma on education and especially on the students.
Currently we have six out of ten students dealing with Student Trauma, which is a number that is expected to rise due to the Coronavirus. The effects of the trauma require our communities to support the efforts of the schools to overcome these traumas and make our communities whole with a reinforcement of our education system.
Campuses closed, distant learning, and no in person graduations. These are the new norm. Steve shared the auto graduation where you drive up in your car and take your diploma through a window, while other honk.
This new look for schools is going to be around for a long period of time. Safety is always going to take precedence, we will also be looking at smaller class sizes and social distancing, which can include special cleaning options, new lunch programs, and just promoting the safe distance. These are complications that are going to be felt by the entire state. Windsor is a school district funded by State taxes and we can be looking at 40% which will mean less funds per student, and that equates to a dramatically modified experience.
Jeremy Decker will become the new Superintendent of Windsor Schools. He is going to be a transplant from the Cloverdale District.