Rotary Elixir, Week of September 26

 For the week of September 26, 2011

Here are some ideas to enhance the relationship with your Rotaract and Interact clubs:

1.      One-on-One mentorship is a priceless gift. Consider adopting such a program with your sponsored New Generations clubs.

2.      Ensure your Rotaract and Interact clubs are aware of, and work towards receiving the RI President’s Changemaker Award for 2011-2012.

3.      Encourage Rotarians to attend Rotaract and/or Interact meetings on a regular basis if they do not already do so.

4.      Consider a joint fundraiser with your junior clubs. While Rotarians may have more financial ability at our disposal, they have the energy and some great ideas, creating a perfect partnership to raise funds for both entities.

5.      Consider regular meetings of the club Presidents to encourage inter-club activities.

6.      Develop a web page on your district website or a separate website or social network for the clubs in the district. Many Interact clubs are unaware of others in the district.

7.      Invite a Rotaractor or Interactor to be a speaker/presenter at your club meeting.

8.      Include Rotaractors in your training seminars.

Building relationships is the cornerstone of the Rotary movement, but sadly we sometimes neglect those whom we do not see at our meetings on a weekly basis.

                                                                                                                     

If we do not nurture these relationships with our Rotaract and Interact clubs, where else will they have the opportunity to learn about the inner workings of Rotary?

What better way to make the transfer from Rotaract to Rotary than through a gradual and natural progression?

THE CHANGEMAKER AWARD

You can find the PDF file on the club website – www.clubrunner.ca/anguilla - at the right side, under “Download and Review.”

RI President-elect Kalyan Banerjee will introduce a new recognition, the Changemaker Award, to accompany the Presidential Citation during the 2011-12 Rotary year. 

Banerjee, who said he will encourage Rotarians to focus on change, explained that the Changemaker Award will recognize Rotary clubs that make an extraordinary impact through their work in the Avenues of Service. 

“In 2011-12, we shall recognize leaders and clubs and districts who carry the service of Rotary forward through all stages of [the Presidential] Citation and Changemaker awards,” said Banerjee.

To qualify for a Changemaker Award, clubs will

(1)    choose from a menu of activities and

(2)   complete a minimum number for each avenue.

All activities must be undertaken and completed between 1 July 2011 and 1 March 2012.


District governors will select three clubs in the district -- the top-performing small, medium, and large clubs -- to be entered into a zone and international competition, culminating in the opportunity to be recognized onstage at the 2012 RI Convention in Bangkok, Thailand.

Activities include

(1)   demonstrating a net gain in membership over three straight years (2009-12) for Club Service and

(2)   conducting a career counseling or vocational training program in the community for Vocational Service.

The 2011-12 Presidential Citation will recognize achievements related to

(1)   membership development and

(2)   contributing to The Rotary Foundation

It will feature club and district recognition categories. The top 15 districts and 15 clubs certified by governors and validated by RI will be recognized onstage at the 2012 convention.

Clubs will select from criteria such as

(1)   increasing the number of younger professionals in the club by 2 percent and

(2)    inducting RI or Rotary Foundation program alumni.

Districts will choose from a variety of goals, including 100 percent participation in the Annual Programs Fund.

For Banerjee, the Changemaker Award and Presidential Citation reinforce the work of each Rotarian throughout the year to make the world a better place through service.

“2011-12 will be the year of the individual Rotarian, the year when we recognize and applaud all that they do for Rotary and for the lives of others whom they do not know and have not met,” said Banerjee during the farewell dinner banquet at the 2011 International Assembly.

Rotary Elixir, Week of September 8, 2011

Rotary Elixir for week of September 8, 2011

It’s not too late to celebrate literacy!

Since 1967, September 8 has been celebrated as International Literacy Day with the goal of focusing attention on the need to improve literacy worldwide. As students, parents, and teachers settle into their back to school routines, it is worth looking at the status of literacy both at home and around the world.

                  

NIEER Director Steve Barnett and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan read to preschoolers at the State of Preschool 2008 release.

According to the fact sheets from the International Reading Association, an estimated 860 million of the world’s adults do not know how to read or write—more than twice the entire United States population. 

• More than 100 million children globally lack access to education. 
• Illiteracy plays a role in a damaging cycle of poverty, poor health, and a lack of mobility. 
• In countries with a literacy rate below 55 percent, the average per capita income is $600. 

Geography plays a huge role in this cycle: 98 percent of non-literates live in a developing country.

• About 52 percent of non-literates live in India and China
• The continent of Africa has a literacy rate of under 60 percent. 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNSECO) also provides compelling information on the extent of this problem globally.

Either out of naiveté or a desire to believe the problem hasn’t reached our shores, it is easy to think of illiteracy as a problem “over there.”  In reality, though, Americans whose literacy skills are never fully developed lag behind fully literate peers in a number of ways. 

Research from ProLiteracy Worldwide finds that one half of all adults in federal and state correctional institutions in America cannot read or write at all, and reading problems are seen in 85 percent of juvenile offenders. 

Health costs for individuals with low literacy skills are four times higher than those with individuals with high-level literacy skills. Students with poor literacy skills may struggle in a number of subjects and some will eventually drop out before high school completion, a grim outcome when the income gap between those with a bachelor’s degree and those without is ever growing.

Starting children early on the road to literacy is an important step in helping develop these skills.  Recognizing this importance, NIEER has several recommended resources on developing early literacy skills in the early years, including:

• A policy brief, "Early Literacy: Policy and Practice in the Presschool Years," by Dorothy Strickland and Shannon Ayers.
• "Hooked on Literacy:  Why Dorothy Strickland Sees Language as Job One,"  a Preschool Matters interview with Dorothy Strickland.
• "What Leads to Literacy?," a feature story from Preschool Matters on some of the factors most likely to indicate later literacy achievement.
• A book review of Literacy Leadership in Early Childhood: An Essential Guide.
• The volume Handbook of Early Literacy Research edited by Susan B. Neuman and David K. Dickinson.

For the literate, we cannot remember what it was like before letters automatically formed into words and words into sentences. We cannot turn off our ability to read and cannot imagine being unable to read our homework, a grocery list, or even street signs.

For millions, though, this is their reality. Ensuring high levels of literacy attainment, beginning with the earliest years, both at home and abroad pays dividends in promoting educational attainment and creating a more capable workforce. 

Improving literacy rates is a massive goal which requires more than one day of activism, but today is be a good time to start. And what better place to start than with early interventions?

- Megan Carolan, Policy Research Coordinator, NIEER

Rotary Elixir - Week of August 1

Rotary Elixir - For the Week of 
August 1


For those new to Rotary – and as a review for the older Rotarians …

You are now part of a global network of business, professional, and community volunteers.

In Rotary clubs around the world, Rotarians like you are changing lives in their own communities and those abroad – and forming strong, lasting friendships in the process.

So, how do you want to get involved in Rotary? That is the question for all Rotarians!

You can VOLUNTEER. 

• Volunteer your skills 
• Improve your community in Anguilla 
• Build your network Volunteer your Skills - 
• Talk to club members about where your expertise is most needed (Let’s have a club discussion about how we can help in the best way possible!) 
• Serve on a club committee. What committee will best suit your skills and expertise? 
• Attend your club’s next Board meeting and help plan club activities. Improve the community of Anguilla - 
• Volunteer to help with the club’s projects and suggest new projects. 

What project is the Rotary Club of Anguilla best known for in the community? We need to have a signature project. 

• Work with a youth program sponsored by the Rotary club (such as Interact or the Literacy project) 
• Identify a need in the community and suggest a hands-on project that addresses this need. Build your network - 
• Attend as many club meetings as you can. Connect with different people each time. 
• Join a Rotary Fellowship (see note at bottom) and meet Rotarians in other countries who share your interests 
• Go to your district conference (next year in Haiti) and try to attend the International Convention 
• Plan to attend another Rotary club’s meeting (St. Martin/Sint Maarten, as an example. One club meets Wednesdays at 12:00 noon at Divi Bay.)