Rotary Gimlet for August 23, 2018 (Aug 21, 2018)

The Rotary bell was rung to begin the weekly meeting and Pres-ident Steve Yorde extended a warm welcome and invited all to sing “America the Beautiful” accompanied by Past President John Baumgarten. Past President Dick Carlson stepped to the podium to offer the Invocation. He asked all to think about the word purpose. Why are we here? Is there a plan for each of us? We know the purpose of our Club is service. We experience the thrill of achievement as we serve others together. So let us have an attitude of gratitude to our Creator for giving us a rea-son to be here –a purpose.
It has been another slow week in Duluth, and Fellowship Report-er Tom Wheeler searched the news media for Rotarians mak-ing their mark on our community. Holly Sampson was asked to kick the Golden Can twice for the article written about the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation’s “Speak Your Peace” both in the DNT and the Wall Street Journal. Our champion row-er Jenny Peterson won two events at the Regatta held in Ke-nora, Ontario, last week. Congratulations, Jenny. Last week Tom Young was caught wearing Tom Wheeler's name badge for the meeting, so $2 fine was levied for “false identification”. Self-reporting was Skeeter Moore who had ventured out to do a little white water rafting on the St Louis River and ended up being interviewed by WCCO-TV and making the evening news in the Twin Cities.
President Steve shared that he, Jerry Pelofske and Dean Casperson had been at the groundbreaking for the Habitat for Humanity project in Duluth. All our local Rotary Clubs were rep-resented. It is the first time in 10 years that Habitat is building a home in Duluth and our club is one of those involved in the build both financially and with promised labor. District 5580 made a dollar-for-dollar match of $15,000 to help fund the construc-tion, matching donations from our club, our club’s foundation, Skyline and Harbortown. Stay tuned for further information on how you can participate.
Performing double duty today, Past President Dick Carlson put on his Chair of the Day hat to introduce fellow club member and today's speaker, Bill Gronseth. Dick noted that so many chang-es have transpired in public education since the time he was active in the Duluth Public Schools. The rules have changed. The make-up of the various student bodies is different. Family structures are vastly dissimilar, so often children are not pre-pared for school. Then there is technology, school safety and security. In this ever-changing scenario, we have Bill Gronseth, Superintendent of ISD 709. Bill was born and raised in Morgan Park, graduated from Denfeld High School, earned his BA from UWS and completed his graduate work at UMD. He is now work-ing on his doctorate in education from St. Mary's University. He has taught in Superior, Cloquet and Duluth schools as well as serving as principal of Homecroft Elementary and Assistant Superintendent for the Duluth School District. He assumed the role of Superintendent in 2012. Today he spoke about “Every Child, Every Day”. The school district strives to attain the goals they have set for educating all the students amidst the many changes in our culture. Today there are two language immer-sion programs: a K-4 Ojibwe program and the other a K-2 Spanish program. There are career and technology focused programs in the high schools introducing students to a wide array of employment choices. One example is this year, 24 high schoolers will gain hands-on experience in construction as they assist with the Habitat for Humanity build. Another program addresses the shortage of teachers today with “Pathways to Teaching” where students interested in pursuing a career in education can take college-level education courses while still in high school. Then when they are attending college,they are able to be employed as paraprofessionals in the public schools.A top priority within our schools today is school safety. Bill was an elementary school teacher when Columbine occurred. The question of “I wonder what I would do in that situation” still lingers in his mind. The newer buildings have modern safety features and protocols including secured entry points and cameras in the hallways. The staff is trained regularly in conjunction with the police and fire departments. However,
there is a balance between safety and a welcoming environment that must be met. And they are always exploring new means and funding for providing a safe place for students to learn and thrive. How can we help? Studies have shown that if a student has 3 positive relationships outside of their own family, it makes a huge difference in their life. So take a moment to say “Hi” to the youth you come in contact with and take advantage of the opportunities that come to make a difference in a life no matter how small you may think it is. After all, they are our children and our future. Thank you, Bill, for all you do for them each day.