Calendar:
- June 13 – Social outing to the Ordway to see the play, Come From Away. If you haven’t signed up, contact John Ordway ASAP to see if additional tickets are available.
- June 18 – Club meeting noon at the Exchange
- June 19 – Mounds View Meet and Greet (See Nyle Zikmund for details)
- June 22 – Mounds View Kick off (See Nyle Zikmund for details)
Notes:
- Ineke Faure, Nyle and Theresa Zikmund’s former exchange student from Germany, was a guest at the meeting.
- Ed James was awarded a Paul Harris pin with one red stone signifying contribution to The Rotary Foundation of at least $7,000. ED is shown with Foundation Director, Dana Rebelein, below.
- NBMV Rotary surpassed its goal of raising $3,000 for The Foundation Annual Fund, actually contributing $4,600! This is the Fund that provides matches for District and Global Grants
- D5960 is seeking to meet its Foundation Annual Fund goal by the end of the Rotary year. (June 30) Contributions may be made online, with notice to John for Club records.
- We received a wonderful message of gratitude from the mother of one of the Irondale students we sponsored to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards). She was excited about the experience’s impact on her son.
- John O, Cindy, Mary, Nils and Susie are responsible for May and June programs, meeting place set up/take down, and invocation. Let John Johnson and Jason Miller know what the programs will be as soon as you can.
- Teams for setting up and taking down the meeting site and the invocation in the 2024-25 Rotary year are same as for 2023-24.
- Reminder - Indicate on the lunch order form if you prefer coleslaw or salad to fries, and any necessary dietary requirements. Guest meals are $15.
- Although it wasn't announced at the meeting, Edeth James attended the St Anthony Scholarship presentations and is shown below with the recipients of our Service Above Self Scholarships, June McGrath and Alexis Shea-Anderson.
Program:
Minnesota Rally to Read
Tim Reardon shared the numbers demonstrating a serious deficiency of reading achievement among Minnesota children – Minnesota ranks 2nd worst in the country in racial inequities in reading proficiency. 500,000 children K-12 do not read proficiently for their grade levels.
Tim described the negative consequences of not reading for the individual, family and community. There is a strong correlation between 3rd grade reading ability and incarceration for criminal activity later. He stressed the importance of language and literacy development from 0 to 3 years of age. This is the period which could benefit from reaching caregivers, parents, babysitters, etc.
The Monticello Rotary Club learned of reading deficiencies in their own community and decided to take action, establishing the Minnesota Rally to Read program. They are raising funds and seeking a match from the State of Minnesota to implement the Monticello prototype in other communities.
