Rim and Spokes - January 24th 2024 (Correction) (Jan. 30, 2024)

Meeting Schedule: (Note locations)

February 7th: District Governor (Middlebury Inn)

February 14th: Prof Jon Isham (Rosie's)

February 21st: Matt Cropp (Middlebury Inn)

MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 24th, 2024

PRESIDING: John Barstow

Guests:

Students: Cora Bliven and Maggie Morter attended with family members

The students were also accompanied by Tara Martin, MUHS Teacher and Jason’s high school contact for the speech contest.

Announcement:

Paul—The membership committee will meet next Tuesday morning. He will send out details in an email.
Spence—He will be convening a committee to consider what, if any, changes we should make to our current meeting schedule and venue.
Nominating Committee—Will hold its first meeting on February 7. Members are Nancy, Spence, Paul, Rebecca, Liz S, and John Barstow. John described the basic responsibilities of each of the offices and asked members to let him or Nancy know if they were interested in holding office.
Club Sponsorships—For years Scott and Tim have been soliciting sponsorships (amounting to $43,000 this past year), and are now looking to transition out of the job. We need new people to step into the role.
Club Centennial—Eric is heading up a committee to consider possible projects to celebrate the club’s 100th year in 2027. He would like it to show the good that Rotary does in the community and throughout the world. This will be a larger, more costly project than we normally take on and offers an opportunity to raise the image of Rotary in the community. Please let Eric know if you have ideas for possible projects.

Fines:

Late—Neil, Sylvie, Liz S. Shawn paid up voluntarily for his long absence.

Happy Dollars

Spence—Welcome to Mark Friis, usually a summer visitor up here for skiing (good luck!)!
Paul—Kudos to Jason for running the speech contest.
Jason—Pleased at the growth of student participation in the speech contest.
John—Glad we did not have a snow day today.
Liz S—a dollar for each speaker.
Fran—Requested the birthday song and was rewarded with one of the worst renditions on record.

Speech Contest:

Speech Contest: Topic: How to bring Hope back in schools:

Round 1: Middlebury (Winner gets $200)
Round 2: Vergennes (Winner gets $300)
Round 3: District Assembly (Winner gets $500)
Round 4: District Conference (Winner gets $750 for 1st place and $500 for 2nd place)

The student can get up to $1,750 for this competition depending on how far they make it!

Disclaimer: The below are paraphrased and condensed versions of the speeches so you get a gist of what the students highlighted.

Cora:

Cora talked about how she has seen judgment, bullying, and kids being mean to other kids mostly because of diversity. She talked about how kids who are bully sometimes develop anxiety and stress which often leads to suicide or thoughts of suicide. About 4,400 teen deaths are caused by suicide and she listed other alarming statistics. Cora talked about how students are not taught about bullying and the harms it has on others. Her brother has experienced many occurrences of violence due to perceived disability, and students who have bullied him just get to walk away with a verbal warning or report. Cora discussed more statistics on bullying and mental health, and why bullying should not occur. She ended her speech by stating that by destroying bullying, we can bring hope back into schools. Cora is hoping for a place that can be accepting, nonjudgemental, diverse, and open minded!

Maggie:

Maggie was born in Wisconsin and raised in VT. She talked about why hope is important to her and she wishes for something to happen to build trust in the school. Maggie talked about how spreading kindness and small acts of kindness throughout the day can bring hope. She mentioned being truthful and uplifting with students during social interactions and conversations to bring hope. She expressed how being kind, smiling, being fair and caring can build trust with others. Maggie is looking to bring meaning and goodwill amongst the school. Her goal is to build an uplifting community, and that everyone has a little bit of hope in their lives. Maggie ended by stating that we are all working towards a common goal and we can accomplish bringing hope to students at the school.

John Barstow interviewed the two contestants while the judges conferred. Judges were Liz M, Liz S, Lyn, Eric, and Spence.

CORRECTION:

Results: Cora Bliven (Runner Up) and Maggie Morter (Winner)

Thank you to our guest students, Jason for organizing, and our volunteer judges!

MINUTES SUBMITTED BY SYLVIE MORRISON (Shout out to Spence for helping to capture some minutes as Sylvie had to leave early! Hint hint - future Happy Dollar!)