Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
January 27, 2014
Gregg Gardiner led the flag salute and Carlton Nielsen gave the invocation reading a prayer
for enlightenment and peace.
Visiting Rotarians
Liana Simpson from Old Town
Rotary.
Guests of Rotarians
John Driscoll was the guest of Gregg Gardiner.
Our exchange student told us that he just got back from Los Angeles where he went to Disneyland and Universal
Studios among other things, then to Santa
Barbara where he hopes to go to college.
Birthdays
Corky Cornwell 1/29
Chris Freeman 1/25
Glenn Goldan 1/27
David Hull 1/25
Anniversaries
Dennis and Karen Hunter 1/28
John Driscoll, district representative for Congressman Jared
Huffman, has long worked on the Honor Flights for our area. He presented a flag
to our club that was flown over the nation’s Capitol on Nov. 11th (Veterans
Day) 2013.
Mike Cunningham said we might try to find a less expensive
venue for next year’s Christmas party. Nevertheless he enjoyed the Ingomar and
then (finally) handed out some nicely framed pictures purchased by many who
attended—for only $25, or so.
Raffle
Winners were Hank Ingham and Mindy Bussman
Program
Jennifer Fairbanks
of the Humboldt County Office of Education spoke to us concerning her work with
teens who need some help to finish high school and continue on to productive
lives. Originally Jennifer came from San Diego
after graduating from San Diego
State as a psychology
major. She worked in juvenile hall and later went to HSU and got her teaching
credential. She has been the principal for the Court and Community Schools
for twelve years.
Court schools are locked schools either in Juvenile Hall or
Regional Facility.
How do students get placed in a Community School?
School Attendance Review Boards (SARB), expulsion, homelessness, district
referral for behavior, or parental requests, can all land a student in a Community School
Jennifer mentioned that the schools employ a Novel based curriculum
that emphasizes character development, vocabulary development and writing
development. Then, she mentioned the ABC’s of: Attendance, Behavior and Credits
that seems to guide much of the daily activities of her school. Students must
attend, behave and be caught up on credits in order to return to the
comprehensive school district. She mentioned the Truancy Intervention
program uses positive reinforcement or incentives to encourage good attendance.
Some students even get to earn computers through good attendance. She showed
pictures of some of the homes where her students live, illustrating that
Truancy Outreach finds kids in some pretty sorry places (And she said she had
spared us from viewing places that looked even worse!).
Kuder Navigator helps teens find out what they are good at
with regard to career paths; it provides resume support and gives students a
place to keep all of their resume information, letters of reference and
community service experiences.
The California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) has to be
passed by every student to graduate. According to Jennifer our rates of CAHSEE
passage are not too bad when compared to similar sized counties alternative
education programs.
Community Service is a part of her school’s program, as is
an occasional surfing trip. She was amazed that many of them live in places
like Rio Dell and haven’t ever been to the beach.
Jennifer said that many of the kids are from poor families
who do not emphasize education, but some are “gifted non-conformists,” i.e.,
teens who are bright but simply will not cooperate.
Craig Hanson, speaking for many of us, thanked Jennifer for
her professional program and presentation.
Next week’s speaker will be Sergeant Matt Coleman of the
National Guard.
Respectfully submitted,
Dan Price
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