ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

 

President Chuck thanked Ata for his work on behalf of our club with clubs in Turkey and Germany on the matching grant project.

Ata announced that the Veteran’s Day One on One dinner will be held from 11:15 AM to 1 PM, November 11 at the Hilton Garden Inn.   Veteran Rotarians or Rotarians who invite a Veteran guest are invited to attend.   Cost is $15 per person, payable to Champaign West Rotary.    The featured speaker will be Colonel Daniel Simpson, Commander of the 659th Intelligence,Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, Fort Meade, Maryland.

President Chuck welcomed Jan Merchen into the club.   Jan is sponsored by Diana Dummit (aka, Diana the Dynamic Bowler).

Phyllis announced that the U of I male a capella group, “The Other Guys”, will perform at the CU Sunrise Christmas party on December 12.   Not to be outdone, Chuck will wear red pants this year to go along with his usual (but also unusual) red blazer.

PROGRAM

 

Tom Ulen introduced Kristine Chalifoux, who has been on the Champaign School Board for 6 years.

Kristine explained that she ran for the board because her children were in the system and because she wanted to see the facilities upgraded.

The District currently has 9,902 students, 55.9% of whom are low income.  Two demographic studies predicted that enrollment should be flat, but the student population has been growing by about 50 kids per year.

The graduation rate is currently 81.4%.   The composite ACT score for seniors is 20.9 and 89% enter college.

The Middle and High Schools have summer schools that include honors and AP classes as well as remedial classes.    Otherwise, all year schools are not the first choice of parents in Champaign.

Kristine reminded us that the schools are always in need of mentors for the students.  That means you, Neal Chamberlain.

The current tax rate is 3.88 per hundred of evaluation, the lowest in Champaign County.

The School Board plans to build a new high school to replace Central, but there is no perfect location.   The current plan is to renovate the old Central High building, move the Edison students into that building and then sell the old Edison building to a developer for condos.

Central and Centennial cannot be combined because the combined student population would require Champaign athletes to go to Chicago for sports events.

A referendum will be required to build a new high school and to renovate the old building.    Kristine would like to see a second referendum passed to renovate Dr. Howard and South Side School.

 

 

Oct 10th Oct 17th Oct 24th Oct 31st
Introductions Reuben Chambers Paul Conforti Molly Delaney Ata Durukan
Invocation Penn Nelson Gary Olsen Scott Paceley Robb Patton
Greeters Reuben Chambers Paul Conforti Molly Delaney Ata Durukan
John McDaniel Phyllis Mischo Penn Nelson Gary Olsen
Song Leader Andrew Kerins Dave Krchak Barb Lintner BJ Lytle
Notetaker Lintner Conforti Chamberlain Perry

 

Upcoming Schedule

October 10th – Nancy Greenwalt, Director of Frances Nelson Health Center

October 17th – Jody Littleton, Associate Professor of Speech at Parkland College

October 24th – Rebecca Ginsburg, Director, Education Justice Project, UIUC

October 31st – Kate Morgan Olsen will talk about her former work with No More Deaths

November 7th – TBD

November 14th – John Colombo, The Carle Problem

November 21st –