‘Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Don’t teach a man to fish…and feed yourself. He’s a grown man. And fishing’s not that hard’ – Ron Swanson

 

“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” – Rikki Rogers – Writer

 

“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” – Elizabeth Andrew – Author

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(notes provided by the unconventional and unorthodox Paul Conforti)

 

Diana’s reflection was reciting The Object of Rotary.  The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideals of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster the following:

FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;

SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarians occupation as an opportunity to serve society;

THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarians personal, business, and community life;

FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

Football: Our Swami is killing it– CU Sunrise is (was) in 1st place!

CU Sunrise Fruit Sale: So far, our club has netted $4600 from sales and expect a total of around $7000 once the cash contributions are collected.  Fruit is available from 430-6PM on 12/8/20 and 12/9/20 at the warehouse on N Elm St.  See Robb’s email for further details. 

Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Saturday 12/12, Walmart on Prospect, middle door. Contact Mary Kay if you can participate. There are slots open.

Bucket Bucks for November went to Grand Prairie Friends. You can now contribute at our web page using PayPal.

CU Sunrise Virtual New Year’s Eve Party, Thursday December 31st at 7pm: stay tuned for more info, but get your holiday sweaters cleaned and ready because you’ll need them!

 

PROGRAM

This week’s speaker was Dr. Susan Zola, Superintendent of Champaign Unit 4 Schools.

Susan has been an educator for 37 years. In 1991, Susan started out in Unit 4 at Dr Howard School and has been in administration ever since.

Champaign Schools is the 3rd largest employer in Champaign County after the University and Carle. There are over 2,000 employees serving over 10,000 students.

Under Susan’s leadership a new strategic plan was implemented in 2020, the first new plan since 2008. The updated plan guides Champaign Schools through the next 5 years with measurable metrics for each of its 19 campuses.

Susan also combined Unit 4’s executive team and cabinet, which totaled 20 administrators, into a more focused team of 8.

Construction on new/redeveloped school sites is ongoing, with some projects already completed. This redevelopment was an impressive undertaking, part of the $264 million project approved by voters.

One of the highlights of this construction project was in the architectural preservation and repurposing of many of the exterior brick walls into functional interior usage.

Susan talked about teaching during a pandemic as a significant undertaking, a learning process of implementation, and overall a successfully managed undertaking by all involved, from administrators, to staff to the teachers, and the students and their families. Bottom line, and what Susan always knew but found this exhibited in even greater ways is that “teachers always show up, teachers have a calling”.

Susan plans to retire as Champaign School’s superintendent in the summer of 2021.

 

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  Dec 10th Dec 17th Dec 24th Dec 31st
         
Reflection Ata Durukan Ondine Gross No regular Evening social
Notetaker Perry Hodson meeting Instead of regular meeting

 

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (with program committee member responsible listed in parentheses)

*All meetings via Zoom unless otherwise noted*

 

December 10th – Tracy Parsons, Community Relations Manager for the City of Champaign (Ondine)

December 17th – C-U Sunrise Rotary Holiday Party (held during normal meeting time)

December 24th – No meeting

December 31st – Regular meeting canceled; social at 7pm (location TBD)

January 7th – TBD (Ondine)

January 14th – TBD (Tom)

January 21st – TBD (Bob)

January 28th – TBD (Cary)

February 4th – Tom Hodson, Shelter Box (Charlie)

February 11th – TBD (Mary)

February 18th – TBD (Ondine)

February 25th – TBD (Tom)

March 4th – TBD (Bob)

March 11th – TBD (Cary)

March 18th – TBD (Charlie)

March 25th – TBD (Mary)