March is a month that doesn't have much going on in Rotary. It is a good time for reflection on how we can improve our club. We always have to be thinking of new fundraisers, and how to improve the one we have now. If you come up with any ideas, please share them with Ken Hola or me. In order to do the good things Rotary does in the community, we need the cash. No matter how far-fetched the idea, let Ken or me know.
Our club is part of a multi-club service project at Second Harvest in Maplewood. We had five members set to go their early in February, but they found themselves snowed out. A second group will challenge Mother Nature on March 8th. We are continuing with preliminary activities surrounding a matching grant application for pre-school youth literacy items for the new library now under construction in Shoreview. The grant will essentially mirror that done by the Roseville Rotary Club in Roseville, so we are optimistic about it’s approval.
The Club welcomed frequent visiting guest Irene Meinen. Club President Hola briefly reviewed the Rockin' Rotary event noting that more than 170 people attended the event this year. He thought that the Club may make a profit of about $6000 after expenses.
The guest speaker was Furqan Syed, a senior at Mounds View High School, who reviewed a computer application that he is developing to assist students in learning Spanish. The ap would include voice recording for pronunciation, writing exercises, and self quizzes. He noted that he felt students would be more likely to turn to aps on their tablets or phones to get assistance than looking things up in a book. He has worked with both teachers and students on reviewing some prototypes, but is now seeking additional funding to help develop the application further. Furqan reviewed the highlights of his business plan with the Rotary Club.
Club President again briefly talked about the Rockin Rotary event. He then said that we would have two classification talks from two of our new members.
Ginny Leutgeb indicated that she was born and lived in St. Paul and was the fourth of six children. She received her Registered Nurse degree from St. Mary's Junior College and worked at several hospitals including St. Mary's in Rochester, St. Luke's, MMC, and North Memorial. The majority of her career was spent at Gillette's Children's Specialty Health Care where she worked from 1988-2015. She was known as the data queen at Gillette's. Gillette's focused on health care for children with childhood disabilities such as cerebral palsy. They are a level one trauma center and a pediatric rehab unit. They have grown to 8 locations and serve about 25,000 children each year. During her time at Gillette, she earned a business and management degree from Metro State and, more recently a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts from Bethel University. She has a strong interest in theater and has acted in several plays and musicals.
Paul McCright indicated that he was from Davenport, Iowa in the quad cities area. His Dad was a pharmacist and his mom was an Assistant Principal. His mom was one of the first female members of the Davenport Rotary Club. Paul attended Luther College and later received his law degree from Hamline University. He met his wife Katherine at Luther and has 3 kids.
After receiving his law degree he passed the bar exam and worked for various law firms doing a lot of estate planning, elder law and tax work. After doing this type of work for a while he decided that he would rather get involved in financial planning and, after a little time off, went to work for Edward Jones. He indicated that Edward Jones is a privately owned company that does not sell proprietary products. There are branches all around the metropolitan area and the country.
Today's speaker was Matt Swenson from "Two Wheel View" - an organization that uses the bicycle as a tool to build resiliency in youth. Their mission is to "change kids' lives from the seat of a bike". Matt is a graduate of Mounds View High School, and is married with two children. This group started in Minnesota in 2001 but has since moved its headquarters to Calgary in Canada. They have several types of school and community-based programs including a bike club for youth ages 11-17, a bike science class for 4th graders, and international bicycle adventures that take place in Western Canada, Quebec, Argentina and Norway. The latter are fully contained trips - i.e. no support vehicles riding along. Some kids pay their own way, others receive scholarships, but most pay at least part of the cost, to ensure they are fully invested in the opportunity. These trips cost between $2,800 and $3,500, including airfare. Most trips include 10-14 kids and 3 adult leaders. Matt described these adventures as life changing for most participants, as they learn self reliance, leadership and decision making skills to last a lifetime.
Today our club welcomed four youth from Mounds View High School, introduced by school principal and club member Dr. Jeff Ridlehoover. Sam, Jemen, Amy and Jake came to tell us about Rhidian Technology - a company they have formed under the auspices of Junior Achievement. Their mission was to create a real product for today's marketplace and their goal became the creation of an application to track movement of school buses in order to address the long-standing complaints of both students and parents around long outdoor wait times for buses during cold weather. They started by surveying students to assess interest, analyzing competitive products, and meeting with mentors including U.S. Representative Keith Ellison and the Technology Director at the Blake School. Their analysis told them that, given their ambitious goal of developing a saleable product, they would need to first develop a track record of success that might entice investors. As a result they are currently working to develop a system that would manage the "One Hour Hall Pass" system at MVHS. When we asked how our club might assist them, they responded that mentoring help and/or financial assistance would be greatly appreciated. We have several members who are well positioned to provide some mentoring -- Dan Conway from a technology standpoint and John Suzukida from a business development standpoint. These were impressive young folks -- another reminder that our club's focus on youth is well directed and our society's future is in good hands!
In February we had two presentations by Mounds View High students on businesses they were developing.
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Our club is part of a multi-club service project at Second Harvest in Maplewood. We had five members set to go their early in February, but they found themselves snowed out. A second group will challenge Mother Nature on March 8th. We are continuing with preliminary activities surrounding a matching grant application for pre-school youth literacy items for the new library now under construction in Shoreview. The grant will essentially mirror that done by the Roseville Rotary Club in Roseville, so we are optimistic about it’s approval.