Find us online at:https://www.fridleychrotary.org/
Joining the FCH Rotary breakfast meetings on Zoom (request by the previous Monday at stephen.keeler@fridley.k12.mn.us.): open the link below, click on Open Zoom Meetings, and follow the prompts.
PROGRAM:
15 members, Visiting Rotarian Patti Hall of White Bear Lake, and guests Scott Roehm, STRIVE coordinator at Columbia Heights High School, and Columbia Heights STRIVE students Alex Sanchez, Valeria Diaz, Jackie Perez, and Ronny Taday heard Hall describe WBL Rotary’s 2024-25 community development Global Grant project in Burkina Faso, Africa. Hall then received the club’s donation of $500.00.
Scheduled speaker Bondo Nyembwe, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services at Columbia Heights Public Schools, then reviewed the district’s several programs for assisting immigrant students and families, which form a significant percentage of CHPS’s enrollment.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Operation Pollination committee met virtually on Tuesday, April 2, with Adam Flett of the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and Melissa Trent, Ag Specialist at Columbia Heights High School, joining members Amáda Márquez Simula, Mike Oakley, Bob Olsen, Kristen Stuenkel, and Bob Tholkes. The summer activity schedule was discussed, beginning with a presentation to the club on Wednesday, May 8 by committee members. The club is offered a chance for a service activity to let us literally get our hands dirty: garden prep at the Columbia Heights High School Pollinator Garden, accompanying students in raking mulch out of the beds and adding fresh compost, on Monday, May 13, from 3:30-5:00 p.m. The school is located at 1400 49 Ave NE.
STRIVE students are visiting Anoka Tech today at 10 AM. Members Steve Klaers, Josh Callahan, and Paul Nealy are accompanying the students.
Members Stephen Keeler, Kristen Stuenkel, and Bob Tholkes are leading an initiative to apply for a district Rotary grant to provide resources for the influx this year of English language learners in the service area. The group met this afternoon with school district representatives and Metro North Adult Basic Education, which is located in Columbia Heights, to begin the planning process.
REMINDERS
STRIVE students will visit Hennepin Tech on Tuesday, May 7 @ 10 am, followed by lunch and a 1 hr visit to the adjacent Law Enforcement Academy. Contact Steve Klaers at 612-599-8103 about accompanying the students.
The next club board meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 10, at Fridley Community Center. All members are welcome.
The 11th annual Golf Classic, the primary club fundraiser, is set for Monday, July 15, at the Refuge Golf Course in Oak Grove.
Rotary International announced that the 2029 RI convention will be held in Minneapolis. It will be organized cooperatively by Districts 5580/5950,5960, and 6250.
Additional mentors for Fridley STRIVE students are sought. Contact Steve Klaers at 612-599-8103.
LOST & FOUND: A soft eyeglasses case was left behind today. Will be available for pickup at future breakfasts.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS: April 10- New member Will Rottler will present his classification talk. April 17- Handlers from Sustainable Safaris will bring animals from its facility and describe its program. April 24- Fridley Public Schools Superintendent and FCH Rotary member Brenda Lewis will speak on FPS’s recruitment of international teachers.
