August saw the arrival of Jiui Youn, our exchange student from South Korea. Jiui was welcomed at the airport on August 13th by Bill Kiehnbaum, host parents Charlie and Susan Oltman and me. The Oltmans have been doing a great job of introducing her to life in Minnesota and she seems to be adjusting well. Of course Jiui is a bit anxious about the start of school, but I'm confident she is going to do very well. We have enjoyed having her attend our weekly meetings but now school will become her first priority. Thank you to Kent and Diane Peterson for spending an afternoon with her recently during this "pre-school" adjustment period! Outbound student Michaela Allen will soon begin her year in Turkey. Both of these young women are to be commended for the grit and spirit required to take on these bold, life-changing adventures through Rotary!
Thank you to Mark Stange for an excellent line-up of weekly meeting presentations during August and to Ginny Leutgeb for arranging a very promising group of September speakers. While there are many reasons we all joined and continue to enjoy our membership in Rotary, I think it is fair to say that it is the quality of our weekly meeting presentations that keeps us all getting up early every Tuesday. I find myself frequently telling others about things I learn each week; things that I never would have known if not for our wonderful weekly meetings. Knowledge + the fine fellowship with like-minded citizens of the world is the powerful combination that keeps us coming back for more!
The overwhelming winner of the "Name our Fundraiser" is: "Rotary Taste of Hops", which was the brainchild of Paul Bartyzal. In addition to a hearty handshake, Paul will receive one free ticket to the event. Our committee is working hard and will have another meeting next week. At the first meeting in October, our club will discuss whether to have a silent auction and sponsors. Please give that some thought and think of potential sponsors to contact.
The Club welcomed honorary member Vern Moore and the guest speaker Chris Lennox.
New Mounds View School District Superintendent Chris Lennox indicated that he has had a long history in the education field starting as a math teacher in Brooklyn Center, as a Dean of Students in South St. Paul, a Principal in the Stillwater District and as an Assistant Superintendent in the Bloomington District. He said that he has been working with Superintendent Dan Hooverman as Assistant Superintendent for the past year and was just recently named to replace Dan. He indicated that he is very honored to be named the Superintendent for the Mounds View School District, which focuses on continuous improvement and is known for high student achievement.
Superintendent Lennox noted the following goals that the School Board had established for the District.
Building Capacity - study the current building capacity due to continued growth in enrollment. After declining student population in the late 1990's through the late 2000's, the District has been slowly gaining students at a faster rate than had been projected. They District has grown from 9600 students in 2009 to 10,900 students in 2016 and has closed open enrollment.
High School Start Times - the District recently pushed back start times for high school students.
Enhance the STEAM program which focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math.
Provide guidance and development support to administrative team leaders including the new Superintendent and principals.
Lennox also talked about the growing diversity within the school district and the percentage of students that were receiving financial aid for free or reduced lunch. He also discussed the College in the Schools programs that are available within the District and how students can now graduate with an Associate degree.
The Rotary on the Road meeting was held at the City of Shoreview. The club welcomed visiting Rotarian Bill Nielson from the St.Paul club. the guest speaker was Shoreview Public Works Director Mark Maloney.
Mr. Maloney presented information about the City's new water treatment plant that is currently under construction. The $12 million dollar water treatment plant is designed to reduce the amount of iron and manganese in the City's drinking water system. The City's drinking water is pumped from underground aquifers by six wells that are primarily located around the community center area. The new water treatment plant is located behind the ice arena adjacent to the City's booster station and underground aquifer. Iron and manganese are not considered a health risk but are considered secondary contaminants that can cause aesthetic issues with the water and potentially future maintenance issues with the water system. The iron and manganese levels have been growing slowly over the past 20-25 years.
Mr. Maloney, Public Works Superintendent Dan Curley and Utilities Supervisor Kevin Chmielewski then took club members on a tour of the water treatment plant. It was noted that we anticipate that they plant will be operational by late fall.
The Club welcomed incoming Rotary Exchange Student Jiui Youn from South Korea and Charlie Oltman who, along with his wife Susan, are serving as the first host family.
The guest speakers were Wally Frieir and John Tripp who are both with the St. Paul chapter of the Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE). SCORE is a national organization of volunteers that help small businesses either get started or grow their business. There are three different chapters of SCORE in the metro area and the St. Paul Chapter has about 90 members. They provide mentoring for small business owners who are seeking advice about their business. Different members are assigned to certain businesses based on their expertise. About 80% of their clients are coming from SCORE's national website.
In addition to the business mentoring, the St. Paul Chapter provides lunch and learn sessions at Century College and also partners with libraries in the area to provide a six week program on starting a business. They serve about 1200 clients per year and another 1500 people attend their seminars and workshops. The St. Paul Chapter donates about 15,000 volunteer hours per year.
The Club welcomed incoming Rotary exchange student Jiui Youn from South Korea and her host Charlie Oltman, Kay Baker, and the guest speaker, Kathryn Allen whose daughter is an outbound Rotary exchange student who is going to Turkey. The Club welcomed visiting Rotarians Bill Nielson from St. Paul and Had Solberg from White Bear Lake.
Kathryn Allen, who works as a Graduate Instructor at the University of Minnesota, and has a Doctorate in Philosophy in Literacy from the University of Minnesota was the guest speaker. She discussed the importance of literacy and indicated that literacy is one of the defining characteristics of humanity. She discussed the role of literacy in the community and noted that due to technology and the rate of change in society it is often difficult to keep pace with the rapid change. She also discussed the importance of obtaining proficiency with the tools of technology.
The Club welcomed visiting Rotarians Ron Hughes from Excelsior and Glenn Bowers. Club President Peggy Strom reported that she had taken Jiui to the Mall of America which she enjoyed and Kent Peterson reported on a trip to Minneapolis with Jiui.
The guest speaker was Jessie Zachay who works as the Director of Healthy Living at the Shoreview YMCA. He thanked Rotarians for the warm welcome into the Rotary Club and believes that Rotary and the YMCA share the same values about building strong communities. Jessie is native of Crystal Minnesota and is currently still living there with his wife and two young children. He attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a degree in Health and Exercise Science. He had originally had planned to work with college and pro athletes on high-level athletic training. He worked for Acceleration Minnesota for several years but eventually took a position with the New Hope YMCA to build a personal training business.
He recently transferred to Shoreview as the Director of Healthy Living and currently runs all fitness, gym, and swim activities for the 10,000 member Shoreview YMCA. The Shoreview Y is one of the largest in the Twin Cities system. The YMCA has three pools that he is responsible for managing including two outdoor pools, as well as the activities in the fitness center and gymnasiums. The YMCA has more than 100 group fitness offerings each week and an active swim lesson program. He very much enjoys the new position and is looking forward to being involved in the community.
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