Announcements

(Notes provided by Allan Penwell)

Last week Betsy Barringer, who is the wife of deceased Rotarian Larry Barringer, visited our club.  Betsy presented a contribution to Gary Olsen on behalf of the Barringer family for ShelterBox.  We thank Betsy and her family for the generous gift.

 

Our next volunteer opportunity will be a clean-up at the IDEA Store on Saturday, September 27th.  Molly passed around a sign-up sheet for this event at 28 East Springfield and please help.

 

August bucket money goes to the University YMCA which will fund educators in Africa for the ebola virus.

 

Ata invites everyone to join the Rotary Veterans Day 1 on 1 event planning committee on Tuesday, September 16th, 2014 at 4:30pm at First Federal, 1311 S. Neil Street in Champaign.  The event is open to all Rotarians.

 

 

Program

Our program for September 11th was Dr. Judy Weigand who is superintendent of Champaign Unit #4 schools.  She has been in the school system since 1987 and has served in several positions including principal of Centennial High School.  She is a Champaign West Rotarian.  Dr. Weigand discussed the issues related to the pending vote for the $149 million expansion of the two high schools.

 

It has been an eight-year journey to acquire the appropriate land and lay out plans for the construction of a new Central High School on North Neil Street and Interstate Drive and a remodel and expansion of Centennial.

 

The Unit #4 board reviewed the issues related to the two projects.  They are a growing student population; a need for upgraded science labs and technology advances; existing temporary facilities (trailers); and need for new career programs such as industrial technology.  There are many other issues such as an outdated swimming pool at Centennial, and Central has no sports fields on campus and shares the Centennial football field.

 

At present, Centennial is using 14-15 trailers to accommodate students, and it is operating at 104% capacity.  Projections show that in 6 to 8 years, the school will be at 120% capacity.  Central is operating out of an old building with lack of sports fields, parking, and no air conditioning.  Statistics show that Unit #4 students have 115-122 square feet of space per student.  This compares to other conference schools with 288 SF per student.  The two high schools skew the overall average significantly downward as the square foot per student at Central is 97.7 SF per student and 51.3 SF at Centennial.

 

As to the crowding issue specifics, the Central band room was designed to accommodate 40 band members, but there are now 100+ musicians in band.  In a recent News-Gazette article, Champaign High School graduates spoke out about their facilities.  It noted classrooms so crowded with desks that it’s impossible to slide between them.  The heat on 90 degree days is unbearable, and classes have to be let out early. The locker rooms are inadequate for all of the teams that use them.  Use of the swimming pool at Centennial is unpredictable because of maintenance issues with the old filtration system.

 

All of these changes come at a cost.  Estimates show that a $100,000 home in Champaign would have an annual increase of around $160 in property taxes.  This correlates to about $.51 per $100 of assessed valuation which according to the school district, the rate would still be the fourth lowest in the high school conference.  However, it is noted that in general citizens want their public buildings to be top notch and generally have approved previous requests for improvements.

 

—

Sept 18th Sept 25th Oct 2nd Oct 9th
Introductions Dave Krchak Bob La Charite Barb Lintner BJ Lytle
Invocation Ed Perry Rod Roberts Jen Shelby Lou Simpson
Greeters Dave Krchak Bob La Charite Barb Lintner BJ Lytle
Allan Penwell Ed Perry Rod Roberts Jen Shelby
Song Leader Penn Nelson Gary Olsen Scott Paceley Robb Patton
Notetaker Hodson Lintner Conforti Chamberlain
Rotary Minute Bob La Charite Barb Lintner BJ Lytle Ben Mast

—

 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

September 18th – Todd Gleason, Farm Broadcaster, UIUC, will discuss the commodities markets

September 25th – Club Assembly

October 2nd – Kevin Hambly, Head Women’s Volleyball Coach, University of Illinois

October 9th – TBD

October 16th – TBD

October 23rd – Dr. Paul Diehl, Henning Larsen Professor of Political Science, UIUC, will discuss international relations

October 30th – TBD

November 6th – TBD